What Is Happening?
by MyNameIsJeffNImLost
Summary: <html><head></head>Yesterday was a bad day for Beckett. Two non-cases drove her crazy. She also had two stressful non-dates with Castle. What fallout waits for her today? Part 3 of 'This Happened' series, sequel to "This Never Happened" and "I Wish This Never Happened".</html>
1. Not Again

A/N: This is Castle/Stargate sequel to _This Never Happened_ and _I Wish This Never Happened._ Reading the first one (a Castle/Stargate crossover) would help with this story. The second one (a Castle/Chuck crossover) is referenced, but is not necessary to follow this story. This story is set a few weeks after _Castle 3.17, Countdown,_ and although this story contains Stargate SG-1 characters, it contains Stargate spoilers up to _Stargate Universe 2.15, Seizure_.

This story will have some humor, a lot of banter, a little action, and even some Stargate-style technobabble. Romance? Well, I don't want to spoil anything that may or may not "happen." This is the _This Never Happened_ series, after all.

How we got here:Yesterday was a bad day for Beckett. She made two arrests for two murders, but no one was actually murdered. One murder never "officially" happened, and the other murder victim woke up in the morgue from couch lock. While her planned stress-free afternoon was fun, it was not stress-free due to her obsessing about how it evolved into a "non-date" with Castle. Last night, they went out for drinks again, so what happened the next day?

Disclaimer: Nobody else owns anything here, so why would I?

Disclaimer 2: No beta. Why would I sucker/obligate/subject anyone into reading this when they didn't want to? However I always correct mistakes I find or am told about later.

_Published: 27 Apr 2011_

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><p><strong>Chapter 1 - Not Again<strong>

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><p><em>BRRRRRRINNGGGGG! BRRRRRRINNGGGGG!<em>

Detective Kate Beckett rolled over to stop the obnoxious noise that roused her from her sleep. Grasping around her bedside table, she finally got a hold of her phone. Still splayed across her bed on her stomach, she slid open the offending object.

"_Beckett. … Where? … Ok, I'll be there in thirty."_

Kate groaned and rolled onto her back. She tried to remember how she got here. The last thing she remembered was laughing with Castle at his bar last night, having way too much fun. She checked and saw she was still clothed in her slacks and blouse. That was a good sign. Rolling out of bed she saw the note next to where her phone had sat.

"_Good morning, sleepy head. Don't worry. I was a good boy. No sense in giving you a hickey if I wouldn't have a matching one. I enjoyed our day and look forward to the next one like it. I took your spare key so I could lock your dead bolt. I'll return it next time I see you, which I hope will be soon. –RC"_

Kate didn't know what to think. She remembered a little more now. Sometime after the second drink (her "fourth round" of the day), she got very tired. It wasn't the drink. It was the frustration of the day catching up with her—a combination of the case that didn't happen, the afternoon non-date with Rick, and the case that she wished didn't happened. All of this was capped off with another non-date with Rick that evening. Of course he remembered their misguided flirting from early in the day…

"_We need to work on hickeys to match the last time we were visited by men in black."_

"_Check back with me after the fourth round."_

He might not be letting her live that down, but at least he did not follow through with it. In fact, he had been a gentleman. He made sure she got home safely. He removed her coat and shoes so she could sleep comfortably, but he still preserved her modesty and did not take advantage of her. He even thoughtfully placed a glass of water and aspirin by the note for when she woke. She didn't need it as she wasn't really hung over. It still was thoughtful. He even made sure she was locked up safe and sound. He was sweet.

Of course Rick would say he wanted another day like yesterday, filled with men-in-black, clone/brother-in-laws, government conspiracies, drunken cover bands, and DEA/CIA raids. He liked the crazy. He also might have been referring to the time in between… the non-date during which Kate enjoyed herself too much. That would mean he was effectively asking her out on another non-date. No. She didn't want to think about that possibility. Asking someone out ahead of time made any non-date into a real date. Non-dates had to be spontaneous and unplanned. Since when had she become an expert on non-dates?

Kate was ready to go and heading out the door when she realized she hadn't called Castle. She'd been thinking about him all morning, but somehow forgot to call. She was obviously still a little tired and wasn't sure she could handle the full "Castle effect" until her head was clearer. She decided she'd call him after the crime scene and meet up with him at the station.

The crime scene was only four blocks away from the scene yesterday morning. Two murders in two days. If this was becoming an unsafe area, any witnesses in the neighborhood would be even less cooperative than normal. Kate sighed. It was time to be Beckett now.

Half way between her parked car and the crime scene tape, Beckett was ambushed. "Good morning, Detective. Sleep well?"

Beckett smiled slightly as she took a coffee and bear claw from her partner. "Thanks, Castle."

"Last night I thought you would drink me under the table," Castle teased. "I can't help but notice that did not happen."

"It would have, if I hadn't been so exhausted," Beckett rebutted. "How did you know about this?"

"Ryan said you sounded out of it, so he called in your stead."

"I'm sorry I didn't call. I was in a hurry to get here and was going to have you meet me at the station." She paused as she took a slip. "I am glad you're here." Beckett surprised herself because she meant it. Castle gave her a pleasant smile.

Beckett and Castle stopped at the barricades and crime scene tape that was blocking off the alley. She took another bite of the bear claw before returning it to the bag. She placed the bag and coffee by the patrolman guarding the scene so any evidence would not be contaminated.

Beckett and Castle approached the body that Dr. Lanie Parrish was hunched over. They had to stand back a few steps as the face-down body was surrounded by a large pool of blood. Beckett asked, "What have we got?"

"Male, mid-thirties, some kind of violent attack," Lanie replied.

"Are those knife wounds?"

"No. These appear to be bite and claw marks. It looks like he was running and was attacked from behind."

"Like an animal attack?"

Castle interrupted, "What kind of animal in Manhattan could do… that?"

"I don't know. The bite could be a Rottweiler, but the claw marks look too big. Once we get him back to the lab, I'll try collecting samples. I'll probably have to bring in the department's veterinary specialist."

"If this is an animal attack, do we still investigate? Or is this something for animal control?" Castle asked.

Beckett answered, "We still investigate until we have enough information about the animal to pass along to them. The attack could have been orchestrated by someone, so we could still have a murder." Castle nodded in understanding.

Other than the body in the middle of the alley, and some random trash, the only thing of note in the area was a dumpster, which two CSU techs were digging through. Beckett turned to reclaim her coffee when she saw Detective Javier Esposito jog up.

"We found another one," he said.

Castle and Beckett followed him back to the street and to the next alley. Detective Kevin Ryan was finishing directing some uniformed officers to cordon off the area. In the middle of the alley laid the lower body of the second victim. A large blood trail led away from the legs to the fire escape of the north side building. The fire escape ladder was pulled down partially right where the trail ended.

Castle covered his mouth. Some scenes were still a little much for him—typically the juicy ones.

"You ok?" Beckett asked.

"Sure. I just need a minute. _That_ definitely was not caused by a dog."

"It doesn't look like it." Beckett thought it was best to change the topic for a minute while he regained his equilibrium. "Thanks for last night."

"Don't mention it. I've always got your back. Oh yeah, I almost forgot." Castle held out a key for Beckett, attracting the curiosity of Esposito and Ryan.

"You keep it. Next time maybe you won't have to bust in my door to save me after a bomb detonates." Beckett gave Castle a smile which he returned with less nervousness then she was probably showing.

Castle reached into his pocket pulling out a different key. "Then maybe you should take this instead." Beckett didn't need to be told what it was. She only hesitated a second before taking the key to his loft from his hand.

Ryan and Esposito seemed amused by the whole exchange. "Something we should know?" Ryan asked.

Beckett rolled her eyes. "Shut it, boys. How many years ago did you two exchange keys? It's what partners normally do. Or do I need to tell Lanie and Jenny they should be jealous?" Beckett told herself it only made sense for partners and best friends to exchange keys. It didn't mean anything more.

Ryan's phone rang, saving him from the conversation. The call was short, but left him looking slightly concerned. "I've been called back to the station. Sorry."

The next half hour was filled with the usual crime scene police work—as much as two adjacent crime scenes could be considered usual. Beckett had IDs for the both victims, so she and Castle headed back to the station to run backgrounds in case there was a connection. They were also going to check pet registrations in the neighborhood, although with the second victim, that theory seemed unlikely. Castle was sticking with his sewer alligator theory for now.

Back at the station, Beckett saw Ryan standing nervously by his desk as a brunette woman worked away on his computer. That must be why Ryan was called in. The woman looked a little like Noreen Hixton, but Beckett couldn't quite place her. She'd have to check on Ryan after reporting to the captain.

Castle took her coat (she was noticing more and more how he did these little things for her), and she went to get a fresh cup of coffee. The break room was full of more people she didn't recognize. The group consisted of three men and a woman. Two of the men looked similar except one wore glasses. The woman sat on the table wearing a long sleeve-black T-shirt, blue cargo pants, and a dark blue light jacket, from which she was trying to remove the tag with her teeth. She was also swinging her legs, trying to get the attention or distract the man with the glasses. The third man was the odd one. He was a large black man dressed in a full New York Yankees uniform, complete with baseball cap and pinstriped pants. The only variation from the standard uniform was his heavy black boots he wore instead of cleats.

As Beckett started to fill her cup, she overhead the first man speak. "You know Sam isn't going to be happy when she finds out we're here."

"Come on, Mitchell," the woman spoke. "I believe the common Earth expression is 'It's better to ask for forgiveness than permission.' I think she'd just be glad to see us."

_Earth expression? That can't be right. She must have said 'English expression.'_

"Vala, she's going to know you just came for the shopping," the man with the spectacles said.

"How is she going to know that, Daniel?"

This time the Yankee clean-up hitter responded with a movie-trailer deep voice, "Perhaps because of the two shopping bags you have with you."

"Hey!" Vala protested. "You have one as well. And you seem to be happy with your new outfit."

"Indeed."

Mitchell said, "You know, Teal'c, I think the pants might be a little much, but the look works for you. At least the hat blends in better than the stocking caps, cowboy hats, and fedoras you normally wear."

"Perhaps we can watch the Warriors of the North do battle with Red Stockings this evening."

"I don't know if they're in town, but if Sam doesn't chew us out too much and we finish up quickly enough, I'll see if we can get tickets." Mitchell replied.

"Oooo, men in tight pants. I can't wait."

"Jack can probably get us tickets," Daniel suggested. "Although, he might be better at getting us hockey tickets than baseball."

"You're assuming Sam doesn't narc on us," Mitchell said.

"I think us being in New York will be a big clue."

"Yeah, but we kind of snuck here."

"You don't think Sam tells Jack everything, do you?"

No one responded immediately, and Beckett's coffee was finished. She figured she couldn't get away with eavesdropping anymore and really needed to get back to work. Leaving the break room, she realized something. _Sam and Jack… Nah_.

Beckett found Castle waiting at her desk looking over at Ryan. The detective looked even more anxious than before. "What's with Ryan?"

"I don't know. We'll check in with him after we're done with the captain," Beckett replied.

Beckett walked over to Captain Roy Montgomery's open door, Castle in tow. Right as she was about to knock, she saw he already had a full house.

"Come on in, Beckett. You too, Castle." Montgomery motioned them in.

Montgomery was sitting behind his desk with a serious, but otherwise unreadable expression. He had three other visitors, all standing, making the room very crowded. Sure enough, there was Colonel Samantha Carter and the mysterious suspect from yesterday.

_Not again._

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><p>AN: This story was originally going to be another one shot, but ended up way too long. Enjoy the ride.


	2. Drafted

_Published: 28 Apr 2011_

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><p><strong>Chapter 2 - Drafted<strong>

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><p>Beckett couldn't believe it. She had two victims that deserved justice and a killer animal on the loose, but her day was about to be hijacked by the US military.<p>

Colonel Carter was wearing what looked like a green flight suit instead of the dress blues she wore yesterday. The patch on her upper right said _U.S.S. Hammond. _At the opposite side of the room stood the former suspect, John Carter, as he called himself. _Or is in Jack O'Neill… or Jon O'Neill? The whole name thing really never made sense. _He wore blue jeans, a plain T-shirt, and a brown leather jacket. Standing close to Colonel Carter was a third man. He was older with unkempt short grey hair sticking out in various directions. He wore kakis, a casual shirt, and a similar leather jacket. In fact the older man and the younger man looked very much alike. There was no doubt they were related. That would make the third man—

"Detective Kate Beckett, Richard Castle, this is General Jack O'Neill," Montgomery stated. She shook his hand. "I believe you know the other two." _So this is the mysterious husband of Colonel Carter._

Castle, who flashed a wave from the doorway couldn't help himself, "No, we were told to pretend we never met."

The general smiled and titled his head, clearly appreciating the sarcasm. "Well that was yesterday, and it might be tomorrow. For the next couple of hours, we need your help."

Beckett looked to the captain, "Sir, I just picked up two victims, and I really don't have time—"

Montgomery cut her off, "Consider that case reassigned. Until further notice, you are to provide the general and colonels whatever assistance they require."

"Yes, sir."

"What about me?" Castle asked from the doorway.

Beckett looked from the captain back to Castle in sympathy. This is where he was going to be cut out.

Montgomery started as expected, "Castle, this is a highly sensitive government investigation. I don't think a writer—"

General O'Neill interrupted, "Why the hell not? We could always use another master bomb defuser." The general stuck his hands in his pockets, rolled on his feet and wore a small grin as he looked over at Castle. Beckett thought maybe the general was making fun of him with some private joke, but she didn't really care. If she had to deal with another day that didn't happen, she wanted her partner at her side.

The general continued, "By the way, we've declassified your role in whole terrorist incident. The Homeland Security Secretary and the White House Chief of Staff think the President can get some good publicity by announcing the foiled terrorist attack. Feel free to milk the publicity or do whatever it is you public eye people do. Just try not to make an ass out of yourself." O'Neill was outright smirking.

Castle looked at the general in shock, while Beckett was torn between laughing and defending her partner's honor. Fortunately, the sarcastic general's wife spoke up. "Sir, keep in mind that even though he's a civilian, he's just a writer not a scientist. So there's no need to pick on him. You should give the man a break. He saved tens of thousands of lives."

"I know. I mean no offense to the heroically lucky effort he made." The general gave him a thumbs up in jest. "I just believe that any politician who thinks the public would be reassured that a mystery writer is saving them from terrorists… well _that_ politician is an idiot. Of course, I've told the two of them that. Loudly and on many occasions."

Beckett's jaw dropped slightly. _This man was someone who told off cabinet members on a regular basis._

"Aren't they all idiots?" the other O'Neill asked from the corner. His voice contained a similar level of disdain.

"Actually, I couldn't have said it better myself." This quip brought a brief laugh from the three military officers, which the other people in the room did not understand.

"That joke never gets old," the general stated proudly.

"It will, if you keep using it," Carter replied bluntly

"Maybe so, but I think I have at least a half a dozen uses still in the tank."

Carter rolled her eyes in response. "Back to the subject at hand, Sir."

Beckett was having trouble following all of the byplay, but thought it was strange the husband and wife were calling each other 'Sir' and 'Carter'. That must make for an interesting home life. She asked the question she had been wondering since she walked in. "Is this related to the group in the break room?"

Colonel Carter straightened up. "They're already here?" The general gave her a look. "Sir, considering the attack a couple weeks ago, I thought you should have a security detail. I called General Landry and requested a team of SF's."

"You think Jon-boy and I can't handle it?" The general sounded serious, but his eyes still gleamed of sarcasm.

Carter gave him a patronizing look. "Not at all, Sir. I just thought it best if you had some back-up."

The general sighed. "Fine, you go find out who Landry sent, while I finish up here with my new friend Roy."

Colonel Carter waited for Castle to move out of the way from where he leaned against the door frame. "All of you should come too so I can introduce you."

The younger man pulled up the rear, waiting for Castle to follow the detective and other colonel. "So what are we supposed to call you? John Carter? Jack O'Neill, Jr.?" Castle asked.

"I believe today I am going by Colonel Jon O'Neill. Tomorrow, who knows?"

Beckett held back a laugh at the reply as she noticed Ryan was looking even worse than before. "Colonel Carter, just a second. I need to check in with one of my team."

As she approached, Beckett noticed Ryan's relief at the sign of back-up. "Hey, Ryan. I've been pulled off the case, too. What's going on with you?"

"I'm being investigated for that stupid case we had last night. Apparently the CIA didn't like me calling in the middle of their CIA/DEA operation."

Beckett raised her hand to cover the frustrated look on her face. First, the morning case from yesterday was back. Now, the evening case was too. Didn't these people realize she had a real double-murder to solve now?

The woman at the keyboard stopped and stood, turning to Beckett. "Detective Beckett, I presume. I suppose I should speak with you as well."

"I'm sorry. But you are going to have to get through some other part of your covert government bureaucracy first, because I've been requested elsewhere." She pointed her thumb over her shoulder. Beckett figured she was doing a poor job of hiding in her own sarcasm, but at this point she didn't care.

The woman casually looked over Beckett's shoulder and froze. "Colonel Carter! Or is it Colonel O'Neill now?"

"Agent Johnson," Carter responded with a forced smile. "It's still Carter. Less confusion with the other Colonel O'Neill, the Colonel O'Neil with one 'L', and the General O'Neill."

Beckett stepped out of the way of the two women who already knew each other. The temperature in the bullpen had just dropped several degrees. _Just great! A turf war._

"Any relation?" Castle whispered to Beckett. Beckett barely held back a snort at the _Die Hard _reference to the FBI guys.

Agent Johnson extended her hand, but Colonel Carter didn't take it.

"Well this is awkward," the agent said.

"Ya think?" Carter raised her left arm across her chest, tapping on the patch on the front of her flight suit. The CIA agent's eyes dropped to where the colonel was tapping and then quickly widened. She dropped her hand abruptly and looked down as she mumbled an apology.

_What was that all about? _Beckett looked to her partner, whose eyes had narrowed at the exchange.

Carter broke the awkward silence, "So do you need to talk to Detective Beckett right now? She has been assigned to help us out with an investigation."

Beckett was surprised at how quickly the agent backpedaled. "No. This was just a routine security check to evaluate any risk to one of our covert agent's cover. I talked to the agent this morning, and he cleared Detective Beckett and Mr. Castle. He had not personally spoken with Detective Ryan, so I was called in to follow-up. Actually, I think I'm all done here." Apparently, the mere presence of whatever group Carter was with trumped the CIA.

"Ok."

Silence. After a few more awkward seconds, "How's Jack?"

_That's interesting. Agent Johnson called him 'Jack'._

"He's in Captain Montgomery's office right now, if you would like to ask him yourself."

At this point the agent's temperment switched from awkward to something close to mortified. "No, that's ok. I really should be going. It was good to see you again." She grabbed her coat and briefcase and was half way to the elevator before anyone could blink.

Colonel O'Neill asked, "Carter, who was that?"

Carter let out a sneaky smile. "Ask Jack about Kerry when you have the chance. Just make sure I'm around to see it." She pivoted, looking rather proud of herself, and headed off to the break room.

Ryan thanked Beckett for the rescue. She quickly told him she didn't know if he and Esposito were off the case, suggesting he check with the captain. Then she hurried after the colonels and writer who were almost to the break room. This day was looking to be as confusing and frustrating as yesterday, but least she wouldn't need to get her _Temptation Lane_ fix.

Beckett caught up with Carter and Castle in the break room, only a step behind them. The young colonel seemed to be hiding, just outside.

"Hey guys! What are you doing here?" Carter surprised the group, who was watching Vala dig through one of her bags. She had built a large pile of clothes on one of the tables.

Mitchell immediate stood when he heard Carter's voice.

"Samantha!" Vala dropped her handful of clothes on Daniel's lap and half skipped over to the colonel. For a second she looked like she would give the woman a hug, but she jump-stopped just short.

The man whom was now buried in clothes spit out a scarf and casually said, "Hey, Sam."

The large Yankee, Teal'c, tilted his head slightly, "It is good to see you again, Colonel Carter."

Daniel addressed the room, "You guys are so busted now."

Carter let loose a big smile and waved Mitchell to sit down. "I see the General has not approved your promotion yet, Cam." His eyes brightened up. "It was supposed to go through a couple months ago, but I guess he's still considering it."

"What's the problem? What did I do?" Mitchell asked.

Daniel answered, "There's the fact that you practically started two wars."

_Wars? What wars?_

"Hey! One of those wars has been over for a couple of years now. And I think it was more your and Vala's fault."

Teal'c said, "A good commander takes responsibility for those under his command."

"As if Vala is ever under anyone's command." Vala looked as if she took pride at the dig. "I was just trying to get the band back together. And it's not like I was the one who attacked the _Odyssey_."

_Odyssey? What's that?_

Daniel explained, "No, but you embarrassed the Alliance's leader and practically took out a hit on him a few months later. You know how it is. Take out the leader and the next guy is normally worse."

"You guys did the same thing for years, and it eventually worked. I was just following your great example," Mitchell grinned.

Daniel continued, "Then of course he's probably also taking into consideration that while on your team his wife was captured several times, was shot, and almost died."

_Captured and shot, not shot down? Colonel Carter must have served in a combat unit, not as a pilot__._

Carter finally stepped to spare him, "Don't worry, Cam. I'll talk to him and make sure you don't retire as a lieutenant colonel. However, you still haven't explained why and how you are here. I requested an SF team, not an SG team, and definitely not SG-1."

The four people looked at each other in a guilty fashion. Finally Daniel spoke, "Let me preface this by saying this was not my idea. I have a backlog of translation work to do from SG-2's last mission. What happened was we were in the control room waiting for Teal'c when your call came in. Vala heard 'New York' and begged Landry to let us come. Teal'c expressed an interest in a Yankees game. Teal'c's not on duty anyway and Landry wanted to get Vala out of the mountain. Mitchell and I were assigned to baby sit."

Carter looked like a mother who was annoyed but secretly amused with her misbehaving children. "Seeing as you have already been shopping, that must be going well."

"I should know not to underestimate Vala, but I have no idea she got all of this so fast. Don't worry, there is a receipt… somewhere."

"So you waited until I was in D.C. so you could go behind my back and order Major Marks to transport you here. Didn't you realize I would see it in the logs when I got back on board?"

"Isn't that why you are here? Well, not 'here' here, but… well you know what I mean."

"No, I haven't seen the logs, yet. I was with the General last night and this morning."

"You're not going to tell on us, are you, Sam? Can't we just do this security detail thing and then let Teal'c and Vala go be tourists."

"It's going to be kind of hard, considering the detail is for the General."

Mitchell gave himself a palm print on his forehead while Daniel said something that sounded like a curse word in some language Beckett had never heard before. She thought it was odd this whole conversation occurred without regard to either her or Castle. She had a feeling some of what she had heard was classified, not that she could make any sense of it.

"Sooo… Sam. Who is this cute guy you brought with you?" Vala stepped over to Castle and folded her hands over the edge of his shoulder as she batted her eyes.

"Vala, team, this is Detective Kate Beckett of NYPD Homicide division and her partner Richard Castle."

Vala looked a Beckett and then quickly backed off from Castle. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you two were together."

Beckett inhaled quickly. She hadn't realized the glare she was inadvertently aiming at the other woman. _What am I doing? Castle isn't mine. I might as well be peeing a circle around him. _"We're not together that way. We're just work partners."

"I see." Vala returned to the loot she left on the table, calling back in a sign-song voice, "De-ni-al."

Beckett couldn't help the blush forming on her neck, and she was thankful Castle seemed to have lost his voice, despite several attempts to speak.

Daniel nudged Vala, "Vala, give the man back his wallet." Vala huffed and tossed it back to Castle. Beckett made a mental note to talk to Castle about protecting his wallet better. Not everyone would give it back like she and Vala did. Castle seemed even more uncomfortable, so Daniel broke the tension, "So Mr. Castle, I noticed you are not a detective. Are you a consultant?"

Beckett was surprised he figured that out so quickly. "Yes, I help out with murder investigations," Castle answered cautiously.

"Me too. Well, not murder investigations, but I'm a consultant for the Air Force. I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson, archeologist, linguist, sometimes diplomat. That was Vala Mal Doran. It's safest not to go into what she is. Colonel Cameron Mitchell. And Teal'c."

"Just Teal'c?" Castle asked.

"Teal'c, what is it now? High Councilor? Ambassador?"

_Ambassador?_ Beckett had a hard time imagining the man in the Yankees uniform as an ambassador.

The man raised a single eye brow.

"I think it's just Teal'c today. That's with an apostrophe before the 'c', by the way. So what else do you do besides consult for the police?"

Carter answered for him, "He's a writer."

"Oh, anything we would have read?" Daniel politely asked.

"_Heat Wave_, _Naked Heat_, _Storm Fall_…" Castle trailed off as he saw the blank stares. "I've written over twenty _New York Times_ bestselling novels."

Mitchell said, "So nothing we would have read."

Beckett tipped her head. She loved it when Castle's ego met people that didn't know who he was.

Carter saved him, "Major Marks likes his books."

Vala was back sitting on the table, swinging her legs again. "A writer, huh? I've been looking for someone to write my life story."

"I write crime and mystery novels, and while I sometimes base characters like Nikki Heat on inspiring people like Detective Beckett, I write fiction, not biographies."

"Well that's perfect! My life story is full of crime and mystery. It is so fantastic no one would believe it as something other than fiction."

"Vala! Mr. Castle is not writing your life story," Daniel scolded.

Mitchell stopped the chaos, "Colonel, what is their clearance level?"

"They are not cleared for full disclosure, but they passed the background checks so we can refer to topics in their presence as long as we aren't specific. Non-disclosures are pending. You know how it is."

Beckett was relieved. "At least you aren't going to mess with us like yesterday." Vala released a huge grin while Daniel had a sneaky smile. Suddenly Beckett realized what Carter had just said meant they would be messing with them, just like yesterday. Her expression gave her away.

"She catches on fast," Daniel observed. "So, why is Jack in New York? And who was killed that we need a homicide detective?"

"Yesterday, Detective Beckett arrested a witness to a Lucian Alliance deal gone bad. The shooter got away, but we're here to follow-up and see if he left anything behind."

"Who was the witness?" Daniel asked, sounding like he knew something was coming.

Carter called out of the room, "Jon."

The young colonel casually stepped into the room with his hands in his pockets. "Hey, guys."

After a brief hesitation, Mitchell bounced out of his chair to attention.

"At ease, Mitchell, before you hurt something."

"And who is this yummy-cicle?" Vala once again seemed to be attracted to the newest shiny man in the vicinity.

Teal'c stood and extended his arm to Jon, greeting him with a full forearm grasp to the elbow, "It is good to see you again O'Neill."

"You too, T. … Daniel." He gave a friendly nod to the archeologist.

"Sam, you didn't tell me your general has a sexy younger brother."

"Ahh… Vala… He's not Jack's brother." Daniel grabbed Vala's arm and pulled her back.

"He's not?" Daniel whispered in something in Vala's ear.

"Samantha! You sly girl."

"What?" Carter looked surprised for a second. Then she understood the implication. "Oh, no. No. No no no. It's not like that."

"Oh, so Jon is available?" Vala extracted herself from Daniel and stalked back over to Jon.

Carter pursed her lips and then decided to have some fun. "I wouldn't know, but I'd bet he goes for cougars."

At this point, Vala had her arms draped loosely over the uncomfortable-looking colonel's shoulders. She turned to Carter, "Cougars?"

Daniel snorted rather loudly, "Loose older women who like to take advantage of younger men."

Vala shrugged, apparently not concerned with the idea of taking advantage of this man.

The target of Vala's interest was squirming. "Uhhh, Carter. I thought you said Vala and Daniel were together."

Vala dropped her arms and looked at Carter with a huge smile on her lips. _She must like the implication of being with Daniel._ Meanwhile Daniel protested in the background.

"I might have overstated that a bit. Although, she follows him everywhere. He takes her to dinner all the time. I'd even bet she bought all of those clothes using his credit card."

"Vala!" Daniel cried as he pulled out his wallet to check it.

"I didn't use the card. I just told them the numbers." She looked at the floor sheepishly.

Carter continued, "When I shut down the baby betting pool, Walter told me that they were the biggest pool running. I think the Siler injury pool has more participants, but it pays out too quickly. Due to inflation, their pool has even more money in it than Jack and mine used to."

"What pool?" Jon asked.

"Come on, you had to know about it. Actually, our pool was fairly straight-forward because we never socialized without the rest of the team. I think it only had date and location of the first kiss without outside influence, how we would be getting around the regs, and marriage date. Daniel and Vala's has categories like where they'll get caught making out, when their next date is, stuff like that."

Vala was curious. "So let me get this straight. I could put money down on Daniel and my next date—"

"—we don't go on dates—"

"—through some third party. Then I could arrange a date and collect my winnings."

Carter shook her head. "Probably wouldn't work. Walter's too smart for that. A few years ago, they had a pool about the next time Jack and I would have to fake being married for the natives. Daniel started getting bribes to orchestrate when that would happen. Walter figured it out and dropped the category."

"But bottom line, most of the people in the SGC think we're dating?" Vala grinned.

"We're not dating!"

Carter said, "What else do you call it when two people clearly are in to each other, care about each other very much, spend all of their time together, and don't have military regulations in the way?"

Vala seemed very pleased with the rational and plopped on Daniel's lap. Daniel rolled his eyes but didn't immediately eject her from her position.

While most people were laughing at Daniel's discomfort, Carter deliberately turned her head and looked directly at Beckett. That when it hit her. _I'm practically dating Castle!_ Her eyes took the deer-in-headlights look. She wanted to know if Castle was thinking the same thing, but didn't dare look in his direction. Finally, Carter let out a quiet chuckle and looked away, leaving Beckett to her panicked thoughts.

Mitchell asked with hesitation, "So when you said O'Neill was here, you meant…"

"No, the General's here too. The President recalled the Colonel and put him under the General's command. He also thought it would be funny to have the two of them investigate the incident together. I'm here for technical support."

"Isn't a three-star and two full-birds overkill?"

"Says the SG-1 leader working security detail," Carter replied.

Daniel asked, "So why the security team? It's not like the three of you couldn't hold off platoon of…" Daniel glanced over to the people in the room that did not have full security clearance. "…a platoon all by yourselves."

"This is classified," Carter gave a pointed look at Beckett and Castle, "but you all know Senator Michaels was not the target of that 'accident' at HWC a few weeks ago. They didn't know the General had been called away for a sitrep at the White House. As far as I'm concerned, if the General is going to be walking around in an area where the Lucian Alliance has been recently, he's going to have backup. Since General Landry sent SG-1 as that detail, it looks like he agrees."

Beckett noticed the entire group, which had seemed jovial and irreverent since she walked in, was suddenly very serious. She still didn't know who this Lucian Alliance was. She only knew they were smuggling weapons, tried to kill General O'Neill, and took out a US Senator in the cross-fire. She had heard the Senator died in an explosion from a gas leak. The 24-hour news channels covered the tragedy for a week. Not once had she heard anything of terrorists, assassination, HWC (whatever that was), or this Lucian Alliance.

"So when do we get this show on the road?" Mitchell asked as he clapped his hands together.

"How about now?" General O'Neill stood at the entrance to the break room.

For the third time in a few minutes, Mitchell bounced up from his chair to attention. Daniel used the distraction to finally remove Vala from his lap.

"At ease, Mitchell, before you hurt something."

Beckett and Castle looked at each other. They both sensed the déjà vu.

"Carrrter." The general looked to his wife was a serious expression. "Why is SG-1 here?"

Before she could reply, Mitchell offered an excuse. "We volunteered, sir."

"I thought I was talking to Carter. Is your name Carrrter?"

"No, sir."

"Didn't think so. Carrrter?"

"SG-1 intercepted my request to General Landry and… thought they were needed here."

"In other words, SG-1 wanted a vacation and was bugging Landry so he dumped them on us."

Carter nodded. "Pretty much, Sir. I would have reissued my request to Landry for a standard SF team, but I was not aboard when they caught transport this morning."

O'Neill was stone-faced for a moment. He slowly started the smallest possible smile with the corners of his mouth. "I see. Well you were busy this morning so I can let that slide." Carter seemed to return the tiny smile as if they were sharing an inside joke. "I'll still be taking this up with Landry, later. He shouldn't be asking for more teams if SG-1 is twiddling their thumbs."

Mitchell spoke up for his team, "Truth is, sir, we were meeting Teal'c, and we're on downtime until we help oversee the elections next week."

"Teal'c is here? Oh, there you are T. I thought you were the next third baseman for the Yanks."

Teal'c stood and smiled at the general. He gave him the same forearm clasp that he gave the younger O'Neill. "It is good to see you, my friend."

"Likewise. When we are done with this thing here, the President wants the inside scoop on your upcoming elections. I think he sometimes wishes he could just put you in charge, but I keep explaining to him that you are nation building and have no intention of becoming a puppet dictatorship. This isn't the Cold War era."

Beckett looked at Castle who appeared to be as confused as she was. She thought she followed world news fairly closely. She wasn't aware of any major foreign elections going on for a while. But apparently, this man in the absurd Yankees uniform was a major player in one next week. While she completely disagreed with the cover-up of the killing of a Senator, she could understand why people would try to do so while the investigation was ongoing, for security reasons. Covering up an election made no sense. Bringing elections to countries new to democracy was always good PR.

"While I like the pinstripes, T, you should probably lose the pants. How about you get changed while Vala cleans up her mess and I sort out the team?"

Teal'c nodded silently, grabbed his bag and headed to the restroom. Vala, meanwhile, huffed and started throwing clothes into her bags.

"Sir," Carter said, "it's been brought to my attention that you have been sitting on Lieutenant Colonel Mitchell's promotion file for four weeks now. Don't you think you should move it to the top of the pile?"

"I don't know, Colonel. Mitchell does have a CMH, but that was when he was a Major. What has he done lately? You won what… an AFC and your second Binder Prize when you were a light colonel."

Beckett thought she followed some of that. She didn't know what a Binder Prize was, but AFC would be Air Force Cross and CMH would be a freaking Congressional Medal of Honor! She was feeling more and more out of place. She wasn't needed here. She needed to be solving her double homicide.

"Come on, Jack," Daniel protested. "If you use Sam as a standard, no one would ever get promoted." Mitchell remained silent in his chair, looking as if he wished the floor would swallow him whole.

"Perhaps. I guess there is budget for another colonel at the SGC. It's not like he would get paid more than you anyway."

"Daniel gets paid more than Mitchell?" Vala perked up at the mention of money.

"Jaaack," Daniel warned.

The general ignored him. "Didn't you know, Vala? Military officer pay is determined by rank, experience and a few other factors like hazard pay. Consultant pay is much more competitive with the rest of the world and as a result, often much higher. Consultants with hazard pay get even more. If I remember correctly, Daniel here is the highest paid person on the Air Force payroll."

"Jack!"

"Really? Fantastic! Daniel, for our _date_ tonight we need to go a really expensive restaurant."

"Umm, uhhh. I think most expensive New York restaurants book months in advance."

Before she could restrain herself, Beckett volunteered, "Castle's famous. He can get you in."

As everyone had once again seemed to have forgotten the detective and writer, all heads turned in her direction. She looked apologetically at Castle, who simply shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

"Great! We could double-date!"

Beckett saw Castle about to agree before he thankfully stopped himself and closed his mouth. Beckett interceded, "Actually, I have to work tonight and Castle has to get home for his daughter."

"Ok. That just means more _alone_ time for Daniel and me." Several people were holding in laughs at that comment.

Teal'c returned carrying his bag and wearing black cargo pants, a black sleeveless T-shirt and a black stocking cap. Beckett knew she could take down most people twice her size. After all, she had broken the interrogation room mirror by throwing Vulcan Simmons against it. It was a matter of assertiveness, technique, controlled aggression, and a lot of time in the gym. However, she had a feeling none of that would help her with this man. He was _built._ He definitely looked more like a body builder or UFC fighter than a politician.

"Well, that won't stick out in New York City," Jon quipped. Beckett knew what he meant.

Carter offered a suggestion, "How about you wear the baseball cap and your new jersey unbuttoned over your shirt. That will make you look like a local fan instead of either a crazy tourist or a bouncer at a rave?" Teal'c nodded and pulled out the suggested clothing. When he switched hats, Beckett noticed a flash of gold on his forehead, but could not see want it was.

At that moment, Esposito stepped into the break room. "Beckett." He curiously glanced around at the group before returning to the message at hand. "I have the preliminary lab report from Lanie. It was definitely an animal. She found non-human hair at in the wounds. Teams are still searching the area for whatever did this, but until we get a species DNA match, we don't really know what we are looking for. We just know it is something big."

"Excuse me. Did you say a large animal killed your two victims? I thought it was a murder." Carter walked over to Beckett and Esposito.

Esposito looked hesitant. Beckett directed him to the door, "I'm sorry. You should run this by the captain. I've been pulled off the case, for now. However Ryan may be back on."

Carter said, "Wait. This is important. Were your victims killed by a large animal?"

Esposito looked to his boss, who nodded for him to proceed. "Yes. We don't know what—"

"And were these attacks near your crime scene from yesterday morning?"

That question surprised Beckett, but she answered, "Yes. Just a few blocks away."

"I think our cases might be related." Carter suggested.

"What are you thinking?" Mitchell asked.

"Remember our first get away with SG-1 and General Landry to the cabin."

"You think?"

Carter widened her eyes and shrugged.

"Oh crap!" Mitchell exclaimed.

"What is it?" the general asked Carter.

"I've been working on the assumption the Lucian Alliance had something like an office, depot, or storage area somewhere near where the man was found yesterday. That location must be very well hidden, if you know what I mean." Carter trailed off looking at Beckett, obviously treading on classified territory.

"So if they were using the same technology as at the cabin—" Mitchell continued.

"We could have another incursion," Carter finished.

"Does this mean we get to go on another hunt?" Vala seemed to be the only one happy about this new information.

"No one is doing any hunting in New York City until we know more." General O'Neill was clearly taking charge. "Daniel, you take Vala and this detective to the morgue. See what you can find out."

Carter added, "Cassie's on the _Hammond_, so you can call her for back-up. She can also get any tests or scans expedited at the SGC." Esposito, Vala, and Daniel promptly left.

"Detective Beckett."

"Yes, General?" She almost felt like saluting.

"Do you have another member of your team we can requisition?"

She looked out into the bullpen. "Ryan!" A moment later he appeared at the door. "You've been drafted by the Air Force." He looked surprised.

"Detective Ryan, I need you to take Colonel Mitchell and Teal'c to where you found the bodies this morning."

Ryan looked to Beckett, a little uncertain about the two men towering by him. She reassured him, "The captain said to give them our full cooperation. Just be careful." He nodded and left with Mitchell and Teal'c.

Beckett asked the general, "What are we doing?"

Carter answered for him. "We're still going to yesterday's crime scene. We're just in a bit more of a hurry now. I have some equipment to gather, so I'll meet you at your car in two minutes." Carter quickly left out the opposite door of the break room.

"Wait. How do you know where my car is?" Beckett hurried to catch the other woman, but when she looked out into the hall, the colonel was nowhere to be seen. After a double take, she shook her head and returned to the remaining group.

"Let's go," the general ordered. One thing was for certain. When this team decided to stop screwing around and move, they moved.

* * *

><p>AN: Ok, I'll admit adding Kerry Johnson is a little much, but I couldn't resist. I added the cameo in reaction to my mind exploding after seeing _Chuck vs. the Wedding Planner_ previews the same week as rewatching _Stargate SG-1, 8.18, Threads_. I didn't want to go into detail in the story, but in this universe, Agent Johnson transferred out of the Stargate Program when Jack transferred to Washington. She dated a congressman for a while, but left him when she realized he was getting busy with an intern. Since then, she's thrown herself into her work, running routine security checks for the "regular" part of the CIA. I know, not very nice. But that's what you get when you're a PLI. Despite the similar appearance, Kerry Johnson is not related to Kathleen McHugh or Noreen Hixton.

Check out the Castle fic _Marking Her Territory_ by **AllusionToAnIllusion**. It's well worth your time. Just don't read it when you're someplace you'll embarrass yourself.

If you want a fun take on Jack and Sam's "marriages" off-world, read chapter 28 of my 1-shot series _And then she said… _If you want to know why Jack and Sam still call each other "Carter" and "Sir" (and why Sir is capitalized), read chapter 29.


	3. Pulling Back the Curtain

Technobabble warning: If you don't understand it, you're in the same boat as everyone else, except Carter, of course. It might be a little much for fan fiction, but it's still less than most Stargate episodes.

_Published: 29 Apr 2011_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3 - Pulling Back the Curtain<strong>

* * *

><p>In the rush to head out the door, Beckett realized something. "I have to check in with my captain."<p>

"Of course. So do I." General O'Neill followed Beckett in the captain's office.

"What is it?" Montgomery asked.

"Ladies, first." The general waved his hand out.

"Sir, Colonel Carter believes this morning's victims might be related to their case. Esposito and Ryan are assisting other parts of their team. We should probably hold off on family notification until we know more."

"Ok. I said we would provide all assistance, and this saves me from reassigning the case. If Colonel Carter is mistaken, please let me know ASAP. I don't want any trails getting cold."

O'Neill said, "Well you don't have to worry about that because Carter's almost never wrong and when she is, we've got even bigger problems on our hands than cold trails. In the spirit of that assistance you offered, I need to get all of your officers on standby." He paused. "Based on what we find, we may need to block off a significant portion of lower Manhattan."

"Are you serious?" Montgomery looked a little incredulous.

The general winced when he saw the captain's reaction. "Most of the time I try not to be but sometimes it can't be helped. Look, this is 'just-in-case' for now. Based on what we find, we may need your department to act quickly. It might also be a good idea to give a heads up to the captains of adjacent precincts. We might be pulling them in as well."

"How soon?"

"We have to get there, and Carter has to do her thing. I don't know. Thirty minutes?"

"We can't be—" Montgomery started.

"Make it happen. If she's right, there might already be a couple more bodies you haven't found, and it could get really ugly really fast. The only reason I not pulling the trigger now is I'd rather avoid a panic without proof. We work differently in DHWS than DHS. They have proof for hours and still get caught with two million people stuck on an island with a bomb about to go off. I'd rather stir up a couple of precincts unnecessarily and be ready for the worst. Don't worry. This wouldn't be an evacuation. More of a stay indoors and quarantine sort of thing. Just be ready for my call." O'Neill turned and left the room. Beckett shrugged at her captain and followed.

As they headed out of the building to the back parking lot, Castle held up Beckett. "Beckett, do you think that maybe Colonel Carter is a hologram? Like that Chimera system the conspiracy web site talked about."

Beckett rolled her eyes. "Be serious, Castle."

"Believe me, this time I am. No one has touched her, and she hasn't touched anyone."

"I shook her hand."

"Today?"

Beckett furrowed her brow. "No, yesterday when we met."

"And today she wouldn't shake hands with that CIA agent."

"There's some history there."

"All of her team mates were making a point of stepping around her. Her husband and her—whatever that other guy is—haven't touched her. I don't think she was actually in the precinct. I'd wager she is waiting for us at your car."

"Castle, it's not like there was a holographic projector set up anywhere that could put her in the captain's office, the bullpen, and the break room."

"She probably didn't need one from where she was."

"Where exactly do you this she was?" Beckett wondered if she would be regretting asking.

"Her spaceship."

Yep. She regretted it. "Give me a break. I'm just happy we are back on yesterday's case. Come on, let's go catch a murderer."

Beckett and Castle approached her car where the three officers were waiting. "See, she's already there," Castle whispered.

"Of course, you held us up," Beckett responded quietly.

"But she's changed clothes, too."

That did surprise Beckett. Colonel Carter had traded her flight suit for slacks, a button-down shirt, and a long, black leather jacket. Somehow she managed to change clothes and collect the cases at her feet, while still beating them downstairs. Their elevator wasn't that slow, and she wasn't in the captain's office that long either.

"Detective, could you pop the trunk? Jon, could you give me a hand with this?" Carter asked.

Castle watched in surprise as they lifted the large case, a little longer than a mini-fridge, into the trunk. Holograms couldn't do that. Then again, how did the colonel get the case to the parking lot by herself? The two smaller hard cases, which were the size of double-wide briefcases, were placed next to the first.

"Why are we taking my car? This is going to be a tight fit. Don't you have a standard-issue federal SUV?"

"We didn't have a chance to arrange transport. I thought the security team would do that, but SG-1 showed up instead."

"But how did you get here?"

No one answered as they piled into the Crown Vic, General O'Neill in front with Beckett and the rest in the back. Even though it was her car, Beckett was half-surprised she wasn't 'ordered' to hand over the keys. She still wasn't sure why they wanted her along. While she was happy to be back on the case, she would've preferred if she were in charge. At least driving would give her a sense of control, despite not knowing what is happening.

The group was silent for the first block, until Carter final spoke, "I know what you're doing, Jack. It's not fair for you to keep the path clear."

Beckett swallowed, and Castle suddenly found something outside the window very interesting. She called him 'Jack' and that was definitely the 'wife' voice.

"What did I do now, Sam?" And that was the guilty, but ignorant husband voice. They must have the strangest marriage on the planet. She called him 'Sir' and he called her by her last name, most of the time. She followed his orders but from the sounds of it, still told him off.

"You shouldn't be holding up Cam's promotion."

"Oh good, I wasn't being an ass to you. Whew!"

"Jack, you _know_ he's long overdue. At one time even I was a little pissed about a couple things, like first kassa mission and the kamikaze routine on '903. But that was five years ago. I've let it go. It wasn't his fault I got shot. You shouldn't be holding a grudge."

"I'm not."

"Come on. Everyone knows you stuck Dr. Lee at Midway because he didn't back me while you were trapped with Maybourne."

"No. That was forgiven when he designed the vests. Since then, he had enough other screw-ups that Landry asked me to get him out of his hair for a few months. And I'm not holding a grudge in this case, either."

"Really." She didn't believe him.

"It's stuck in appropriations."

"Appropriations? Our budget is what… a trillion dollars? What difference is one colonel's salary going to matter? We just put Jon here back on the payroll." _A trillion dollars?_

"I get paid for this. Cool!" Everyone ignored the joke from Jon.

"It's not the promotion. It's his possible next posting."

"Oh. Wait. You mean the X-305? That's going to happen?" Carter's disapproval made way for excitement.

"I hope so. It won't be ready for a while, but it would help to announce the first commander when I try to push it through appropriations. He wouldn't have to wait until construction is finished, though."

"He does seem like the right man for rapid response missions the X-305 would be designed for."

"Plus we can tease him about the smaller size of his ship," the general grinned.

"I thought you might be holding him back until Landry retires. Reynolds has more years as 2IC of the SGC anyway. It should go to him."

"No, that's not it. Actually, Reynolds said when he gets retired to a desk, he wants to help plan the 'Delta Site City'. He likes the idea of a posting that is not just research and military. He can take his family, enjoy the beaches, and be unofficial mayor of Delta-ville."

"He doesn't want the SGC post?"

"I think his exact words were, 'Hell no. Everyone here—including me—thinks it better go to Carter.' It doesn't matter anyway. Last time the IOA only reluctantly approved Landry because of my recommendation. So this time they 'submitted' their own pre-approved the succession plan. I got it last week when you were on assignment. Their first and only choice is Dr. Brigadier General Samantha Carter. They were concerned I would keep you in D.C. when your tour was up. Not that commuting is much of a problem anymore."

"I'm not sure about accepting a posting from the IOA again. You remember how the last one ended."

"I ripped them a new one that they are still recovering from. It won't happen again. I think the disaster that almost happened at the tail end of Woosley's leadership only reinforced what a mistake that was. We haven't had any problems since the Air Force was put back in charge. Of course it helps not having Sheppard out in the field as much, stirring up trouble the way he does.

"The SGC is still a USAF posting. Davis has helped me restructure the books showing how power and mining projects virtually fund its entire operation now. That means less IOA oversight over day-to-day operations. You can order all of the blue Jell-O you want. Of course they will still butt-in on the big stuff, but they'll have no control over the command structure, and there will be none of the stupid throw-Daniel-in-a-freezer stuff."

"Ok, that story I need to hear later," Jon said.

"Ask Daniel."

"Speaking of asking about people, who's Kerry?"

"What?"

"Some brunette agent that we ran into back at the station. She ran off when she heard you were around. Carter said I should ask you who Kerry was."

"She did, did she? Did she tell you who Pete was?"

Carter quickly changed the subject. "Who will take over the _Hammond_?"

"If the X-305 is not approved, I figured Mitchell. Otherwise, I'm looking for your recommendations."

"What about SG-1?"

"I was hoping the runt in the back seat would get off his lazy ass and get back to work."

"I told Carter maybe in a couple of years, but if I really get a paycheck for watching the Daniel-Vala show daily… That might be fun."

The officers laughed. When the laughter stopped, Beckett could no longer contain her curiosity. "Would you mind explaining to me what is going on? I want to know how yesterday's weapon smugglers could be related to today's animal attacks."

After a moment's pause, Carter answered, "If I'm right—"

"You always are," the other colonel interjected.

"—the animals have been infected by a parasite of sorts."

"Is this the parasite you were talking about in interrogation yesterday?" Beckett asked.

The general answered this one, even though he wasn't there. "No. That parasite causes delusional episodes of godhood. This one is causes rabid 'roid-rage."

"Ok, but I don't understand why and how the Air Force can claim jurisdiction in an animal control incident and why it would necessitate the mobilization of the entire NYPD."

Carter responded, "'roid-rage is probably an understatement. This parasite has been known to make a docile herbivore aggressive enough to take out a four-man special ops team."

"And this thing is loose in the city?"

"We're going to confirm that now."

"You should have said something earlier. I wouldn't have brought Castle along."

Before Castle could protest, the general stepped in, "Don't worry. We're used to guarding civilian, free-loading consultants. It's no big deal."

"I signed waivers so I can't sue the city if I get hurt."

"Those waivers don't protect you from me if you get hurt," Beckett snapped back. A couple of the other passengers held in a small chuckle.

General O'Neill said, "Also, we do have jurisdiction under IOA resolution 42-b. It says we can do whatever we want in any NATO or EU country, plus Russia, China, Japan, Australia and a few others."

"Sir, it does not say that!"

"Well, it basically does… within reason, as you always say. I just have to deal with the political whining afterwards. You _know_ how much I hate that. It's the built-in checks-and-balances of the system!"

Castle asked the next question. "I've noticed you've all been talking about a lot of seemingly classified information around us. You're not going to mind-wipe us after this is over, are you?"

Carter turned to Castle and deadpanned, "No. Not if you cooperate." After a moment of panic flashed across Castle's face, Carter smiled and continued, "Actually, we never use that device because of a bad experience Mitchell had. It's not very ethical. It can implant memories and make people admit to crimes they didn't commit. We wouldn't want to bring all legal confessions into question." Beckett couldn't tell if she was being serious. She must be messing with them again.

"Teal'c would be really great at getting confessions," Jon mused. "Either the silent approach or a few whispered threats and the coldest of killers would be spilling their guts."

"Don't tell him that," Carter warned. "He has this idea for a P.I. crime-fighter TV show that he ran by Martin. We don't want him getting any more ideas like that."

"So you aren't going to disappear us like Alec Colson?" Castle asked nervously.

"No", Carter answered. "Alec was put in a sort of witness protection after his company's CFO cooked the books and was murdered. We dismantled the organization responsible a few years ago, but Alec didn't want to come back. He likes his new job too much.

"To answer your underlying question, Mr. Castle," Carter continued, "considering you are a fiction writer, not a journalist, very few people would believe you. Also, Detective Beckett and occasionally you have to be credible on the stand. If you started spouting crazy stories, many of your former convictions might be brought to appeal."

"Blackmail, then," Castle reasoned.

"Not really. More enlightened self-interest. You already have all the money and attention you need, and she doesn't care about it. It's not like you are going to have any evidence anyway."

"As long as you are being so honest, why are you even bringing us along?" Beckett asked.

General O'Neill answered, "In operations like this, we sometimes need the cooperation of local law enforcement. If we include them along the way, the cooperation comes much faster when we need it. Some lawyers might come by with the non-disclosures later, but the worst we'll do if you don't sign them is lock you up under the IOA's version of the Patriot Act. Also, we do continuous, world-wide Internet and media searches for terms like X-305, so we'd be on to you pretty fast. Look at what happened yesterday when you ran junior's prints."

Beckett didn't want to say anything that might give Castle the idea, but this IOA was starting to sound like the secret world-wide government, with General O'Neill as its military commander. Who was she kidding? Castle would be on the world-wide conspiracy theory bandwagon long before she would be.

"We're here," Beckett said as she parked to block the alley entrance. "This is the scene of the crime."

"I really hate clichés," both O'Neills said in unison.

Everyone unloaded from the car, and Carter opened one of smaller cases. Inside were two blue and purple devices with two different-sized, irregular tubes, extending from a back handle.

Jon quickly grabbed them and tossed one to his older twin. They switched on the devices, which started to make a whirling sound.

"What are those?" Beckett asked.

"Transphase Eradication Rods," Carter replied. "T.E.R.'s. Think of them as high-tech flashlights."

"Eradication? Are they weapons?" Beckett was concerned.

"Yes, but we probably won't be using them that way. In fact, it's a long shot they will even help at all."

Beckett saw the two O'Neills were sweeping the alley with the devices. The two men moved with perfect synchronicity, lighting up opposite sides of the alley with a blue light. It was a little unnerving.

Carter pulled out the second smaller case, which contained a laptop. She opened the screen and attached a cord to one of the side ports. The cord led to what looked like a narrow microphone. "Could one of you…" The woman held out the open laptop, which Castle promptly took from her. Carter still held the device slowly moving it back and forth it like some kind sensor. "Detective, could you show me where the body was?"

"Sure. This way." All signs of the crime scene from the previous day were gone. No need for body tape, police tape, or barricades when the murder 'never happened.' About a quarter-way down the alley, Beckett stopped and pointed at the ground. "Right here."

"Thanks." Castle held the screen towards Carter as she walked a few feet past where Beckett pointed. The laptop started to emit a rapid clicking noise.

The other two men had already finished their sweep. "No luck," the general said.

"It was a long shot. I'm picking up some lepton radiation here. Could you two get the large case?"

They nodded simultaneously and jogged back to the car. Carter continued waiving her sensor around in the air, stepping backwards and forwards as if she was mapping something.

Beckett said, "You said you detected radiation. I wear a radiation detector, and it's in the green."

"Different kind of radiation. It's non-ionizing, like microwaves, radio waves, and visible light. However, you should turn it off. Otherwise, you'll panic when it goes off in a few minutes."

She didn't like the sound of that, but complied, figuring the colonel knew what she was doing. Carter directed where she wanted the large case on the ground. She opened it, and Jon immediately stepped back. On reflex, Beckett and Castle also stepped back.

"Carter, what the hell is that doing here?" Jon was pointing at the large cylindrical device in the case. It was looked like an oversized bug zapper on its side. Several colorful crystals extended from one end.

"Don't worry. It's off," Carter assured him.

The general scoffed, "It's not like it is going to ruin a fishing trip this time."

"No, that happened yesterday. Just keep it away from me. And don't go touching it and then touch me."

Carter rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Fine. Then I've got another job for you. I didn't have time to get something from Area 51 in high security holding. The new security protocols require two officers as well as voice authorization from the General, Landry, or the current head of R&D."

Carter pulled out the unusual cell phone Beckett saw yesterday morning while the general pulled out a regular cell phone of his own. "I'll call Davis. Jon, I think I saw a diner. It would have a back storage room…"

"Right." The colonel ran back to the street.

"_Major, this is Colonel Carter. … I need an emergency transport of Colonel Jon O'Neill, transponder code R3-725, to storage facility 6 at Area '51. He'll be radioing you in a minute and will need return transport a couple minutes later. Also Major Davis should be contacting you shortly for the same destination."_ Carter put away her device.

The general spoke into his phone, "_Davis, I need you to stop by '51. Colonel O'Neill will be meeting you there."_

"Carter, what do you need?"

"Three Sodan bracelets from locker 872-621."

"_Did you get that? … Ok, this is urgent. The colonel should be waiting when you arrive." _He hung up.

"Carter, how do you do that?"

"What?"

"The code and locker number."

"I added the code to the system this morning, and I was the one who authorized the bracelets be returned to storage."

"What, five years ago?"

"Your point?"

"My point is stop showing off."

"Of course, Sir." Carter smiled.

Beckett was feeling increasing lost again, but thought they were flirting, despite the rabid animal that might be loose in the city. She asked, "What is the plan now?"

"The plan hasn't changed," Carter replied.

Carter looked over at the O'Neill who shrugged and said, "I wouldn't mind knowing the plan either, not that I'm going to understand it. I know how you like to recite your plan to clarify your thinking. I'll try not to censor you when I get lost." He helped her lift the large device and put it on the closed lid of the case.

Beckett was surprised. Even the general wasn't going to understand it? This should be about as 'interesting' as everything else she heard this morning.

Carter started her explanation as she worked on her laptop. "After yesterday's attack, we've been assuming that the Lucian Alliance has a hidden base in New York. At first it doesn't make strategic sense. Their primary targets would be Area 51, HWC, and the SGC. With the transplanted control chair we installed at Area 51, it is too well protected and would require a full-scale assault. The SGC is hard to attack too, which is why they went after HWC. My guess is they constructed the device here in New York City before launching the attack on HWC. It's close enough to D.C. to serve as a staging location for a cargo ship. Also, if they were discovered, they could detonate immediately in the largest American population center. Of course they couldn't risk discovery before their plan went into effect, so they had to hide their base of operations. Considering the materials they were using, they needed something better than an abandoned warehouse."

"You're thinking cloaking, which is why you had us use the T.E.R.'s." The general wasn't lost yet, even though Beckett was.

"Right."

Castle interrupted, "Cloaking? You mean like stealth, not like Klingons, right?"

"Well… I'm not talking about Stealth technology. It uses radar absorbing materials and angled design to minimize a radar signature. That's ok in the air, especially at night when visibility is limited. It wouldn't help in a city filled with millions of people. We know of several other ways to cloak something." Castle's mouth dropped open. She meant like Klingons.

Carter turned back to the general and continued, "The most common is light refactoring, like what cargo ships and puddle jumpers use. That wouldn't work in a population center because someone would inevitably walk into the cloaked object. We scanned this entire area yesterday from the Hammond and didn't find anything. The next option is phase shifting light waves, like Nirrti's personal cloaking device and the Re'tu. Phasing shifting would have similar issues to refactoring, but I wanted to rule it out. That leaves… dimension shifting."

"Why is this sounding like _The Twilight Zone_?" Castle asked.

"Don't feel bad. She lost me at light refactoring." The general smiled. Ok, the general was lost too, so Beckett didn't feel as bad.

Carter smiled but continued anyway. "According to M-theory which combines all of the string theories, there are eleven dimensions parallel to our own."

"Dimensions…" O'Neill interrupted. "This is like…"

"The Ballard crystal skull, Merlin's computer, the Sodan bracelets, and of course…" Carter extended her arm towards the bug zapper, "…the Interdimensional Visibility Device."

Beckett was so far past lost, she'd wished she was only lost.

"But what is the _plan_?" the general asked.

"Back when I was working on Merlin's computer, I had Felger—"

"Felger!?"

"Don't worry, you'll like this. I had Felger try out the IVD to see if he could penetrate the cloak. I gave him very detailed instructions. I would have done it myself, but frankly it was a tedious time consuming exercise, and I was needed on SG-1. My instructions mainly involved tuning the frequency control crystal to see if the viewing dimension could be changed to one of the other six. The side benefit of this experiment was no one was allowed near him while the experiment was going on." O'Neill laughed at that. "Of course Chloe didn't realize this, but at least we stopped the spread at eight people this time. Anyway, through a couple weeks of trial and error, Felger managed to tune the device to view four other dimensions."

"That didn't sound like a plan to me. So now what?" O'Neill wore a strange smile on his face. Beckett remembered what Carter had said yesterday about technobabble being a turn-on for him.

"Assuming this lepton radiation is coming from their hide-out, I'll try to adjust the bracelets so we can phase shift and retrieve what they left behind. Each of these dimensions has a different level of interactivity and visibility with others, so hopefully the bracelets can put us into the right dimension. Then I'll just need to disconnect the power source from whatever they have that is maintaining the shift. Hopefully it will confirm the transdimensional parasite theory so we can take action."

Beckett looked at Castle wide-eyed. Castle, on the other hand, held an expression that was part confusion and part kid watching Star Wars on the big screen for the first time. _Merlin? As in Camelot? Crystal skulls? Isn't that from Indiana Jones? _Transdimensional parasites? Most of what they said sounded like fiction. Maybe her life was fiction now. She was certain these people were nuts, or she and Castle were nuts. Either way, she was wishing she had stayed in the car, or back at the station, or back in bed. Yep, that was it. Getting out of bed was her first mistake yesterday, and for some she unknown reason she had repeated it today.

Carter continued working on her laptop, occasionally pulling out a long blue crystal from the IVD and touching it with something that looked like a pen-light that was attached by a fiber optics cord to the computer. Not the type of thing you could find at Radio Shack. After replacing the crystal, she slowly and deliberately placed her hand on the casing of the device.

"What do you see?"

Carter cringed, "One of those giant wasps, up about twenty feet… and there… one of those giant centipede things." Carter was pointing in the empty air like a crazy person. Beckett was feeling better because it was looking like she and Castle were not the crazy people after all.

"It's flying?" the general asked. Yep, he was crazy too. Or he was a really good husband placating his crazy wife.

"No, it's on the roof of a structure, about ten feed up." Carter switched two crystals and touched the device again. "Those things are creepy." She wiggled her shoulders. "So, I've determined a structure of some kind is here. I still couldn't see it, so I don't know how big." The general nodded to her as if she just had said the sky was green and didn't have a problem with it.

She removed the two crystals, touched the blue one with her pen light again, and returned them to their original positions. She touched the device with her palm again, repeating her previous experiment. She immediately jumped back and fell on to the pavement.

"Carter, are you ok?" Her husband helped her up. "What did you see?"

"I misjudged the outer wall of the structure by a couple of feet and found myself inside the wall. It was very disorienting. Just a minute." Carter brushed herself off and stepped to the side holding a hand in front of her, she took a long stride forward. "Ok, I'm in the room."

_What room?_

"It crosses the entire alley and extends back about fifteen meters. There's a large work area. I've found the generator and what looks like materials for at least one more bomb."

_Bomb!_

She continued walking around an indirect route. To Beckett she looked like she was walking around nothing. "Ah, there's a body, and eww… It's covered with a bunch of the worms." She followed her round-about path back to where she started.

"Well, we have our confirmation." Carter swapped the crystals and touched the casing of the device again.

"Ok, I'll call Landry and see what teams he has available."

"Wait, just a sec." Carter pulled out her phone and flipped through some screens. "SGs 10, 12, 20, and 26 are available."

"There's an app for that?"

"I put it on your phone three months ago. Do you need me to show you how to use it?"

"Nah. Why does he only have four teams available?"

"Well I assume you don't want SGs 7, 8 or 16. They are medical and scientific only. SG-13 and 23 are on down time after month long recon missions, and SG-18 has two men down right now."

"I really don't know want SG-20 or 26 either."

"SG-26 finished their training."

"On the fourth try. We're not releasing the Chinese Team in New York until they are more seasoned. Same for the French and British, too."

"SG-27 and 28 just started training last month, overseen by SG-2. They are all at the Beta Site training course."

"So you are saying eleven teams are not on mission, but I can only have three and one of those is Russian."

"Four, counting SG-1. I'll get two marine units from the _Hammond_."

"What about from last time? SG-3 and twenty…"

"Five. They both have missions, although SG-3 might not have left yet. From the original SG-25, two took medical discharges. The other two are on SG-12 now."

"Ok, I'll call Landry. We need a secure, private location." O'Neill hesitated for a second in thought and then looked at Castle and Beckett. "Either of you two live around here?"

They both shook their heads. O'Neill furrowed his brow when Castle broke in with a thought, "I do own a bar called The Old Haunt. It's less than a mile from here. It'll be opening for lunch soon."

"Perfect. A bar, huh? I knew there was a reason I liked you." That didn't sound too sarcastic. "Ok, you need to call whoever is in charge and tell them you are shutting down for the day. They shouldn't come in. Do you have a secure room with no windows?"

"There's a cellar and manager's office."

Carter called over, "Show me where." Castle stepped over to her laptop, which showed real-time infrared footage overlaid with a wireframe outline of his bar. The bartender looked like he was setting up for the day.

"There." Castle pointed at the screen.

"Thanks. Make the call to close your bar."

Several things happened at once, and Beckett was having trouble following. Castle called his bar and informed him that he had the day off, with pay. Carter called someone with her special phone and gave them 'transport coordinates.' She also ordered two teams of marines to that location. O'Neill called some other general, likely this Landry they kept talking about. He requested SG-3, 10, 12, and 'the Russians' and told him to coordinate with Captain Montgomery. He also mentioned something about a crazy bear in Minnesota.

As everyone finished their calls, the younger O'Neill returned, carrying another black case. "What did I miss?"

"I found the hideout. The IVD is off. We need the bracelets to get at it."

Jon flipped open the case, and Carter distributed three leather armbands that contained a colored jewel to the three officers. "Fortunately, I don't have to tune the devices. The hideout is not in the same dimension as the one the wristbands shift us to, because that would make them solid to this dimension. However, there are about twenty worms eating away on the body inside. That means the building's dimension is adjacent to the wristband dimension. We should be able to interact with it once we have shifted. We can't afford to have any of the worms follow us back, so I think you are going to have to triple zat them. I'll disconnect the power source, which should return the hideout to our dimension. Detective Beckett, Mr. Castle, I need you to take position at opposite ends of the alley and make sure anyone who happens by stays back until we give the all clear."

The officers put on the bracelets, while Beckett and Castle hurried to opposite ends of the alley. Fortunately, all appeared clear. Beckett looked back when she heard an electronic noise of some kind, but she saw no one there. The entire alley was clear between her and Castle except for the black cases. _Where did they go?_

Beckett looked around the street and still saw no one close by. Then from behind her she heard, "It's clear!" Beckett turned and almost fell over when she saw what looked like a metal shed extending across the alley from one side to the other. _Shut the front door! _A door in the short building opened, and the general walked out, followed by Carter and Jon, who were carrying some new silver metal device that had two spheres on opposite ends cylinder with a pedestal control panel in between.

"Carter, you're getting to be as bad as the Ancients, losing your high tech gadgets all over the galaxy."

_Galaxy? Did he just say 'galaxy'? _Beckett thought Castle was bad with the hyperbole.

O'Neill might have been teasing, but Carter didn't appreciate it. "Sir, I know this is my design, but that doesn't mean I _lost_ it. We've left almost a dozen of these behind intentionally. Some were to power gates. Others were for villages that may have been converted by the Ori and then later exploited by the Lucian Alliance. I'll check the serial number later. For now, we need to get to the rally point."

"Fine."

Beckett still was in slight shock when she heard Castle yell from the other side of the building, "Guys! Where are you?"

* * *

><p>AN: I must have been too subtle. No one figured out Sam was on the _Hammond_ using the Chimera holographic projection system. Or at least no one told me they did.

Since you made it this far, I feel like I have to justify the plot devices in my story. _Stargate SG-1, 6.13, Sight Unseen_ is very, very far from my favorite episode. The best thing about _Stargate SG-1, 10.5, Uninvited_ was Carter serving as acting base CO. However with the Trust gone, the system lords wiped out (and most of the rest of the goa'uld, too), there are not a lot of choices for a plot device that would work in New York City. I hope this story is at least as enjoyable as those two episodes. (I know, I know. That's setting the bar low).

Technobabble disclaimer: All "science" in this story is consistent with Stargate, not real theoretical physics. The M-theory discussion is paraphrased from _Stargate SG-1, 9.18, Arthur's Mantle_. I'm not a theoretical astrophysicist, so who knows if it is anywhere close to the real theory.


	4. Hunting

_Published: 30 Apr 2011_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 4 - Hunting<strong>

* * *

><p>Castle was trapped on the other side of the shed that had appeared out of nowhere.<p>

"Go to the end of the street, and we'll pick you up in a couple minutes," Carter called over to Castle.

Everyone cleaned up the various devices spread throughout the area. Beckett even helped carry a couple of the smaller boxes back to the car. She felt like she was holding top secret government secrets, because she was. With the trunk full, the case-less silver device was put on the floor of the passenger side front seat, where Carter now sat.

Carter's phone rang. _"Carter. … Hi, Daniel … Yeah, we know. … I found their hide-out. … They hooked up a naquadah generator to a modified Sodan bracelet to hide an entire building. … The General said the same thing. … We had to disintegrate the body we found because it was covered in the worms. … Tell Vala we could use her 'hunting expertise' again. Also call Cam and Teal'c and tell them we need to meet up for weapons. Bring Cassie, too, in case we need medical support. … The _Hammond_ has the coordinates. … We'll tell you more when we get there."_

A moment later they picked up Castle, who looked as exacerbated as Beckett felt.

Castle started in, "That building came out of nowhere, but you knew it was there since we left the station. I thought Beckett was the smartest person I had ever met—"

"—and I thought Castle was the craziest person I ever met—" Beckett added.

"—but now I'm thinking either Colonel Carter is the smarter person—"

"—or you all are the craziest people."

"That's cute," the general said, "do you two practice that finishing each other's sentence thing?" The officers laughed, but Castle and Beckett were too used to the kidding they got from Esposito and Ryan to appreciate the joke. He continued, "Everyone who has worked for the SGC, which we all have, is just a little bit crazy. But Carter isn't just the smartest person you've ever met, she's the smartest person in… I don't know… the entire world?"

"In the galaxy?" Jon offered.

"I think it is four or five galaxies now," the general suggested.

"Stop it guys." Carter was blushing. "There are a lot of people smarter than I."

The general said, "We're not counting 'Rain Man' types that count toothpicks. Most people I've talked to think that if you were on the _Destiny_, they'd be home by now."

"Does that mean you are going to let me go?" Carter asked.

"Hell no. You're banned. Don't give me that look. You're the national treasure. After what happened to Perry, the President has said he doesn't want me using the stones either."

"Like that stopped you last time."

"How many Rite of M'al Shuraan experts do we know?"

"I think Teal'c is more of an expert, and it's not really the rite without a junior," Carter countered.

"Close enough. Anyway, Teal'c had council meetings and we don't know if there would be a physiological issue with him using the stones. My point is we put our top twenty scientists, save you, on Boy Wonder's solution, and not one of them thought of the solar flare problem. _I _even knew that would be a bad idea, albeit from person experience."

"Ok, I'll give you that. McKay wasn't consulted either, and Rush knew it wouldn't work."

"But the Boy Wonder figured out the ninth chevron before he did, and Rush's Icarus solution was way too dangerous. _McKay _thought of a better solution. Considering Rush and the Boy Wonder are a wash, McKay is smarter than both, and _that_ annoying man only approaches your intelligence when his life is threatened, I think you win."

"What about Daniel?" Carter asked.

"Doohickeys trump rocks. And it's not like the Asgard needed his knowledge of twenty-six languages they already knew."

"No, they needed my dumb ideas. They did name their science ship after him."

"So what? Maybe they thought you would blow it up and didn't want to waste your name on a ship that wouldn't last."

"I'm not the one _she_ went after," Carter said.

"Stuff trapped in his subconscious doesn't count—"

"Because then you'd beat all of us, and we couldn't have that," Carter teased.

"What did you do?" Jon asked.

"I used another one of those head sucking things," the general said.

"Ouch. Well at least you didn't let Carter use it."

"See," the general said with some satisfaction. "He agrees with me."

"Of course he does," Carter said sarcastically.

From the sound of it, Carter was a genius, and they were all crazy. Also, Beckett was beginning to suspect she really was in the Twilight Zone. The silly argument about who was the smartest was halted as Beckett parked in front of The Old Haunt.

"We're here."

Everyone climbed out of the car and started into the bar. Beckett stopped and said, "What about the equipment in the trunk?"

"What equipment in the trunk?" Carter winked and carried the silver device into the bar.

Beckett opened her trunk and saw only her vest, Castle's 'writer' vest, and a shotgun pushed to the back of the trunk. The rest of it was empty. _Where had the boxes gone? _Now she knew she really was in the Twilight Zone. She grabbed the vests and shotgun and hurried inside.

Inside The Old Haunt, the place was being transformed into a battle headquarters. More than a dozen soldiers in black fatigues were rapidly at work. Some were moving tables out of the way. Others were bringing in large containers from the cellar. Two wheeled in a large flat-panel monitor, at least fifty inches. Beckett and Castle looked at each other, mouths once again agape. Beckett had been part of enough task forces to know what a mobilization looked like. She had never seen one happen so fast before.

"Where did all of these people come from?" Castle asked.

Beckett pointed to the manager's office, where Daniel and Vala emerged. "How did they beat us here?"

Castle and Beckett were pushed aside by a couple of people entering the bar from behind them. Upon second glance, they saw it was Teal'c and Mitchell. Teal'c was carrying Ryan over his shoulder.

"What happened?" Beckett demanded as Teal'c placed Ryan in the nearest booth.

Mitchell reported, "We were attacked by the creature. Teal'c hit it, but it ran off. Ryan was freaking out so we had to stun him so we could get here."

"Stun him! What do you mean stun him?"

"Don't worry. He'll be fine."

A young woman in a flight suit matching the one worn by Colonel Carter earlier pushed Beckett out of the way. At least that confirmed _she_ wasn't a hologram. "Excuse me, I'm a doctor. I'll take a look." Beckett stepped back reluctantly to let the doctor work. "What did you guys do—zat him?"

"Yes I did, CassandraFraiser."

The doctor huffed.

"We had to shut him up somehow," Mitchell explained.

The doctor shook her head and continued her evaluation. After a few more seconds, she stood and addressed Beckett, "Your friend is fine. Normally he would wake in a couple minutes, but this being the first time he's been zatted, it sometimes takes longer—"

"Zatted?" Beckett interrupted.

"Think of it as a high tech taser. It's safe, most people here, except me, have been zatted at least once. Daniel's probably been hit twenty or thirty times over the last fifteen years." Mitchell chuckled, but stopped when the doctor leveled a glare in his direction. "Normally we would just let him wake up naturally, but when we need someone awake sooner… He's not going to be actively involved in the operation, right?"

"No, he won't," Mitchell answered.

"Ok, instead of the zat quick-revival serum, which would give him the mother-of-all-hangovers, I'm going to give him a sedative—"

"A sedative? He's already unconscious," Beckett protested.

"It's a special blend, specifically for his condition. He's unconscious because of an electrical charge. The sedative will be chemical. It will allow him to wake up more slowly with fewer lingering effects. He'll be good to go in about an hour."

The doctor pulled out a syringe from her bag, filled it and injected the unconscious detective. After putting a Band-Aid on the mark, she stood and directed another glare at Mitchell and Teal'c. "You guys should know better—"

"But Cassie—"

"Don't 'Cassie' me, Colonel. You both know better than to zat a police detective no matter how uncooperative he is being. Now go check in before I change my mind and decide to tell General Jack you two have gone insane and need to be removed from duty."

Mitchell's eyes widened, "Yes Ma'am."

Teal'c nodded to the feisty doctor and said, "Your assertiveness does honor to your mother." The doctor's firm expression melted into a tight smile. The three joined the rest of the soldiers who had finished setting up 'headquarters.'

The center of the room was very crowded, so Castle led Beckett behind the bar where they could get a clear view of the briefing about to take place. As they walked the length of the bar, Beckett overheard a group of four men talking in Russian.

"_Most of the sexy women at the SGC are off-limits: married to a general, daughter or goddaughter of a general, or just plain crazy. But _there_ is a woman I'd like to buy a drink."_

"_Just buy a drink? I'd like to do a lot more than buy her a drink. I think I saw a storage closet on the way in."_

The men laughed. _Time for some fun. _Beckett slung her left arm over Castle's shoulders and around his neck, where she started playing with his hair on the other side of his head. Before he could react, Beckett grabbed his left ear lightly, where it could not be seen. She did not squeeze, but held it in a threatening manner. She whispered in his right ear, "Play along."

Beckett turned to the Russian team and said in a perfect Moscow accent, _"Why would I do anything with any of you? _My _man is a _real_ man. He owns this bar and gives me free drinks whenever I want… among the other things he gives me__._" She leaned in and brushed her lips across Castle's cheek, causing him to shiver.

The Russians were no longer laughing, although Daniel, who was standing nearby, covered his mouth to hide his quiet laugh.

Castle released a mischievous smile, put and arm around Beckett's waist, and whispered in her hair, "Feel free to use me like that anytime."

Beckett quickly crushed his ear, but released it before he could yelp with his safe-word. She didn't want to destroy the ruse. _It is a ruse. Isn't it? _ Before she could contemplate her own question, the briefing began.

The general had concluded a three-way video conference call on the monitor. With the call windows closed, the screen showed a map of the surrounding area. The Old Haunt, the crime scenes, the last sighting, and the perimeter were marked. Everyone was quiet.

"We are going to be doing a grid search of a four square mile area. Lieutenant, what can you tell us about the target?"

The young doctor stepped to the front. "My tests show the target is a squirrel infected by the extradimesional parasite picked up from Sodan clocking technology. We don't know the exact behavior to be expected because of the unpredictable nature of the mutation caused by the parasite. In two of the previous cases, an herbivore creature became an aggressive carnivore. In the Minnesota case, two bears exhibited pack-like attack strategies."

"Thank you, Lieutenant." The general sounded overly formal, but the doctor/lieutenant barely held in a smile. This must be that goddaughter doing her residency that Carter had talked about yesterday. No wonder she called him 'General Jack.'

The general continued his briefing. "In short, we don't know much of what to expect, except it's highly dangerous. We do know of two victims so far. We believe there is only one creature. Otherwise, there would be a lot more victims. Last time, the creatures had a large hunting area, but those animals were forest animals that had a large habitat. Fortunately, at last sighting, the target was still in the middle of the target area. We are hoping an urban squirrel would stay in a much smaller area. We are also hoping it will stay out of sewers and other underground tunnels. Instead, we need to be more concerned about fire-escapes, and rooftops. A half dozen choppers will be flying low, trying to spot it on rooftops.

"The primary concern is the safety of the civilians in the area. It is now after eleven, so the early lunch crowd is out on the streets. It will only get worse after noon. NYPD has started running squad cars with megaphones asking everyone to stay indoors. We've also used the alert system to inform building security to keep people indoors. The cover story is close enough to the truth: we are hunting a rabid bear that had already killed two people. Local news is cooperating. Anyone you encounter on the street should be escorted to nearest door and instructed to remain there until they hear an all-clear. Carter."

Colonel Carter turned to address the group. "The problem is how to corral the creature. Last time we used radiation packages to drive the creatures into a central area. That was acceptable because the packages had a short half-life and were safe past a distance of a hundred meters. They can't be used here because of the dense population."

"We need bait," Vala called from the back.

Someone sarcastically replied, "What a big pile of nuts?"

Several people laughed to which Vala said matter-of-factly, "Last time General Landry was good bait."

The laughter died quickly, but a few people were still amused at the suggestion of Landry being a big nut.

"That's it!" Carter exclaimed.

"Carrrrter," General O'Neill said. "You can't use Landry as bait."

"No, of course not. But remember the particles emitted by the IVD when we first brought it back from P9X-391?"

He gave her a blank stare.

"I think I can modify the device to shift the particles to the dimension of the parasites. Considering the parasites still exert some control on the host, the particles may bring the creature to the device."

"Are you sure they won't drive it away?" Daniel asked.

"No, but we won't know until we try. If that's the case, we might be able to use that to our advantage as well. It's the best idea we have so far."

"Do it," the general ordered. "All other teams, start your sweeps. Remember to check in with Walter every ten minutes with your location. Move out."

Beckett extracted herself from Castle. She hadn't even realized they still had their arms around each other throughout the entire briefing. It had just felt so natural. "Dr. Jackson," she called out.

"Yes, Detective?" He was holding a machine gun of some sort and didn't look much like a scientist.

"Where is Detective Esposito?"

"Your captain held him back to help with the NYPD mobilization."

"What are we supposed to do?" These people might be very effective soldiers, but that was a large area to cover so they would need her help.

"Jackson!" Mitchell called from by the door. "Let's go. It's Wabbit Season!"

"I don't know, check with Jack," Daniel quickly answered Beckett before rushing to join his teammate.

Beckett looked around the room, which had greatly cleared out. The general was talking to two airmen. One was very young, working on a computer that was hooked up to the screen. The other was an older, short man with chopped grey hair and glasses. Colonel Carter was working on the IVD, which had somehow disappeared from the trunk and transported inside. Colonel O'Neill was standing by, tapping the butt of his gun, impatiently waiting for her to finish. The doctor was checking on Ryan, whom someone had moved away from the booth on to a gurney. The other two dozen plus soldiers were gone, starting their search.

Beckett walked up to the group to the middle of a conversion.

"This is just so weird!" the doctor said. Beckett's concern for Ryan immediately rose. "Growing up I had the biggest crush on you and now you're standing there, looking… I'll admit it… all hot, and all I can think is 'Ewww!'"

"You're right, that is—" The young colonel didn't seem to know what word to say.

"Exactly!" The doctor stood, finished with her quick check-up, and gave the much taller colonel a big hug and peck on the cheek. "But don't worry. I still love you anyway, Uncle _Jon_," she said as she pulled away.

"I've missed you, too, Cassie." The young man immediately aged in Beckett's eyes. He obviously thought of this young woman as a daughter. The look in his eyes reminded her of how Castle looked at Alexis, and Castle was her definition of what a good loving father should be. _Wait. Why am I thinking about Castle's fathering skills?_

Beckett broke her thought and asked, "What can I do?"

General O'Neill looked over, surprised. He was engrossed in mission organization and appeared to have forgotten the detective and writer were still there. "Nothing. Just stay out of the way." He pulled out a radio and stepped away to talk to someone.

Beckett was not happy. She needed to be involved—be part of the solution. This seemed to be some macho thing.

As if she had read her mind, Carter said without looking up, "Don't let him bother you. I challenged him with a whole 'reproductive organs on the outside' speech the day we met. It's not a sexist thing with him."

Cassie said, "Walter, what are the odds?"

"Teal'c and Vala are 5-to-3. Colonel O'Neill and Colonel Carter are 3-to-1. Mitchell and Daniel are 8-to-1, mainly because of full SG-1 team bets. The field is 20-to-1, and they're only that good because Colonel Reynolds put fifty on his own team to help morale."

"How much did he put on Teal'c and Vala when no one was paying attention?"

"Eighty."

"See, Detective Beckett. Most people are betting on the two teams with women."

Beckett was surprised, "You're betting on who gets this thing?"

Colonel O'Neill shrugged, "Why not?"

Castle piped in, "Put me down for two hundred on the big guy and the crazy chick." He pulled out two Benjamins and handed them to Walter. Beckett glared at Castle, who said, "What? The guy walked out of here with two guns! He's already wounded the thing and even shot Ryan this morning. He's also wearing natural camouflage so the thing won't see him coming." Beckett couldn't hold her glare, smiling at the comparison of Yankee pinstripes to zebra stripes. "It's not like we haven't bet on who solves a murder before."

Carter was still making adjustments as she said, "Jon, get them weapons. They're going to drive us to drop off the bait, so they should be armed." Apparently, Colonel Carter wasn't concerned that her senior officer/husband had said they should do nothing.

Beckett looked straight at Castle and pointed, "You're staying here."

"No way. I go where you go, partner."

She stared at him for a second before realizing she never won this particular argument. She pulled out her sidearm and handed it to him.

Carter was finishing up and looked at the handgun. "No, that will only annoy it." Jon flipped open a nearby case revealing a row of machine guns.

"Cool, P-90s!" Castle was practically drooling.

"No, Castle." Beckett felt like a mother telling her kid he couldn't have candy. _A cute kid that looked like Rick. That would mean—no don't go there._

Jon held out a P-90 for each of them. Castle took one despite her protest. He immediately pulled out a cartridge and loaded it. Beckett should have known better than to be surprised.

Castle grinned at her. "Research for _A Calm Before Storm_. I went to a military firing range and tried out a variety of weapons. I've fired a P-90 before."

"Of course you have."

Jon said, "Detective, if that shotgun contains breaching rounds as I suspect, by the time you're close enough to do any damage, its claws will be in your throat."

Castle showed her how to load and prime it, while Carter finished with the device. She wasn't entirely comfortable with a weapon she had not fired before.

As the four started to leave, General O'Neill said, "Be safe, Carter."

"I will, Sir," she replied. The two officers stared at each other for a couple of quiet seconds. It was a look of concern, love, and trust. And then the poignant moment between the husband and wife was broken.

_That must be what it is like to work in a dangerous job with someone you love. I wonder if I… Who am I kidding? I know what that feels… No. Don't go there._

The general started to say something to his younger counterpart, "You watch her—"

"Of course. Always."

The colonels carried the IVD to Beckett's car. Beckett noticed they had swapped out their jackets for black combat vests. Beckett and Castle got in the front, while the device was placed on the seat between the officers in the back. As Beckett pulled away from the curb she asked, "You obviously have some magical way to move people and equipment around. Why are we driving there?"

"The device is on now, so we have to transport it by hand or it will shut off automatically. It's a safety feature." _That wasn't a denial about a magical way of moving things around._

"This animal isn't invisible. What else does that device do?"

"It's emits a harmless radiation we hope will attract the creature."

Beckett was able to drive quickly to the drop-off point. All of the lights around the perimeter had been switched to red, and the patrol cars with loudspeakers had started their rounds, so there was no traffic. She kept her lights and sirens off, in case that would scare away the thing they were trying to catch. Virtually no one was on the sidewalks. The message had gotten out. She was trying to ignore the fact that in the past half hour, martial law had effectively been declared in this part of New York. They had to catch this thing so she could get out of this surreal world of mutant, transphasiwhatever animals and back to her normal world of catching murderers and getting justice for the victims. She really hated this case!

At their destination, Beckett asked, "Now what?" She stopped her car in the middle of the intersection between the two alleys where the bodies had been found. The area appeared deserted.

"Now we get out and find cover," Carter replied. "Considering the aggressive nature of this animal, I wouldn't be surprised if it rammed the car. We don't want to be inside when that happens."

"Great. Maybe it will total the car. I've been trying to get her to upgrade for a while. The seat is so uncomfortable that—"

"Castle! Focus!"

He immediately shut up. Beckett saw the two colonels quickly and quietly move to take positions in nearby doorways on opposite sides of the intersection, weapons ready the entire time. She and her writer exited and hurried to a third corner. She was suddenly wishing she had not parked in the middle of the intersection. It was only a few yards, and they were wearing vests, but she felt very exposed.

"Beckett."

She looked behind her and saw Castle frozen in the street, weapon hanging loosely at his side. Following his glaze she saw it. She couldn't identify it, but it was definitely not a squirrel. It looked to be the size of a tiger. It had a pointed face and brown, patch-worked fur that did not cover all of its flesh. It swung a long bushy tail behind it.

Castle was still frozen when she saw it charge.

"Castle!" Time stopped. Beckett dropped her weapon and tackled him to the ground to cover him. It probably wasn't the brightest idea, but she didn't think her unpracticed P-90 aim would have helped much either. She just had to get to Rick and protect him. So she chose to sacrifice herself in the path of the creature.

She couldn't see what happened next. Bracing herself for the attack, hoping the vest would provide some protection, she instead found herself on her back. She was trying to protect him, but of course he had rolled her over to protect her. Now it was too late to do anything about it.

Then she heard gunfire—a lot of gunfire. After a half a minute, the explosion of sound stopped.

Castle still held her tight. His hands cradled her head from the pavement. His body covered hers. After some length of time she couldn't measure, she carefully opened her eyes. His warm eyes stared right back into her own. Something hard to identity passed between them through their shared gaze. Instead of seeing her life pass before her eyes, she only saw Rick. Then again, maybe that was her life passing before her eyes. She parted her lips slightly. He slowly lowered his head. She closed her eyes and waited.

"See! I told you bait would work. Thanks for playing the bait, guys!" It was Vala. "Score another one for the aliens! Muscles and I bagged another deadly, extra-dimensional, radioactive, monster-causing creature!"

Startled by the interruption, Castle lifted himself from his position and helped Beckett to her feet. He squeezed her hand briefly before letting go. The moment had passed. Looking around, they saw Teal'c, Vala, Carter, and Jon.

_Wait a second. Did Vala say' aliens'? She must mean they are not citizens. Teal'c is involved in that foreign election__,__ and Vala has an accent. Yeah, that must be it._

"It looks like it will be a split pot between the favorite teams," Jon said with a cocky grin.

"I doubt my winnings will cover that," Castle said pointing to the side. Beckett looked to see what had caught his attention. Her nearby car sported close to twenty bullet holes. Apparently, it was the backdrop for one of the shooters. Teal'c, Vala, and Jon looked around, not owning up to it. Carter was calling in a report.

"What happened to the monster?" Castle asked.

"We already transported it out of here to a secure location," Jon said. "They'll probably bring in a bear for the TV crews."

At this point, Castle and Beckett knew better than to ask anything else. The cover-up had started.

Mitchell and Daniel ran up to the group. "Man, I can't believe I missed it," Mitchell complained.

"You know what this means." Vala's eyes lit up as she looked at Daniel. "More shopping! And then… dinner! A really fancy and expensive dinner date!"

"Colonels, do you want tickets to the game, or do you want to go shopping with Vala?" Mitchell asked as he pulled out his phone.

"Tickets." Jon couldn't have replied faster.

"Count me out. I still have to check on the _Hammond_. We were supposed to start engine upgrades today, so I have a lot of work to do."

Daniel said, "No all-nighters, Sam. You better join us for celebratory drinks after the game. I'm telling Jack, and you don't want him to have to order you to join us." Daniel grinned, but Carter's eye roll gave Beckett the feeling Carter ignored those type of orders from her husband.

"Don't worry. A chance to see the 'light-weight' after his 'girlfriend' breaks his credit card… wouldn't miss it." Carter gave him a friendly push to the shoulder. Daniel gave her a glare, which she only grinned at.

Beckett was shocked at how quickly the group acted as if nothing significant had happened. Maybe locking down a city, finding an invisible building, and taking down a mutant animal was all in a day's work for them.

The SG team walked briskly back towards the bar as no one seemed to want a ride in the damaged vehicle. Beckett managed to get the car started, but just drove it to a nearby parking spot, not wanting to risk driving it a longer distance. The IVD was no longer in the back seat, but the disappearance really didn't surprise her at this point. Beckett and Castle walked slowly back to his bar, providing silent comfort to each other through their linked arms.

* * *

><p>AN: I feel like I should apologize to a lot of people. I apologize to…

SGU fans. I'm not saying Eli, Rush, and the rest are idiots. They're just not part of the 'A-Team'. In Star Trek Next Generation, when Q or the Traveler threw the Enterprise across the galaxy, the flagship crew returned in the same episode. However the Voyager crew took seven seasons to get back. That said, I was thinking wormholes and stars don't mix the second Eli suggested it, based on "1969", "Exodus", and "Red Sky". It's not Eli's fault he didn't see those mission reports. Dr. Lee should have known better.

Ryan and Esposito fans. I like them in the show, but this is the second time I've "removed" them from one of my stories. This time I didn't even realize I did it until after the fact. (*spoiler*) In my story _Castle vs the Law of Averages_, I stunned Esposito and gave Ryan a lame excuse for not being in the rest of the story—the reverse of this story.


	5. Back to Normal

A/N: Unlike a lot of Stargate episodes, this story has a fifth act.

_Published: 1 May 2011_

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 5 – Back to Normal<strong>

* * *

><p>By the time Beckett and Castle reached their destination, life in Manhattan was returning to normal. Cars were on the streets, and people were on the sidewalks heading to lunch. The bar was empty, and all signs of it being a military command post a half hour ago were gone. These disappearing acts were no longer a surprise.<p>

Castle fixed them each a sandwich and a non-alcoholic drink. (She was still on duty.) After a quiet meal together, Ryan finally woke up. Castle called his bartender to reopen the bar for the evening rush, and the three of them caught a cab back to Ryan's abandoned car.

The afternoon back at the station passed quickly. Beckett had paperwork to fill out. This whole thing was big enough that it definitely "happened." It just required some creativity. Montgomery was dealing with a lot of the fall-out. Fortunately, the Air Force sent a PR person to deal with the press. All signs were that the cover story was holding. Beckett just hoped her request for a new car was approved quickly.

Castle disappeared mid-afternoon to go hug his daughter when she got home from school. Before he left, he invited everyone to The Old Haunt after their shifts. Montgomery, Ryan and Esposito politely declined, preferring some privacy with their significant others. Beckett accepted. She couldn't think of anyone she would rather be with that night besides Rick.

Later that evening, Kate cautiously stepped into The Old Haunt. As she entered a tall, lanky man with brown hair and a stunning blonde were exiting. "Come on Chuck. We have to hurry to catch our flight. We were supposed to leave this morning. You have shift tomorrow, and we have that early appointment with the wedding planner." _Why did that voice sound familiar? _ Kate shook her head. It was nothing.

Trying to catch her bearings, Kate exhaled deeply and told herself this was not a date. It was another _safe_ non-date because the guys had all been invited too. The fact that they did not come did not make this non-date into a real date. _Keep telling yourself that._

Looking around, everything appeared normal. The piano player was in a groove. The bar stools were filled. Laughter was in the air. No sign of a military presence. Then she saw them. Several of the SG-1 members, in civilian attire, were sitting in the large corner booth. Rick slid up beside her from nowhere, put an arm around her, and escorted her to a nearby booth. Kate could still see the group from where she sat.

"Ok, here's what I've found out so far." Rick seemed excited, like when he dove into a murder case.

"Rick, they work for a top secret government organization. Maybe you shouldn't be spying on them."

"Eh. They're off duty. I'm not trying to discover any secrets. I'm just doing research for our 'what is that person's secret' game." Kate smiled remembering the fun they had in the park yesterday. "The big guy, Teal'c, only drinks virgin cranberry juice. Normally, I'd say recovering alcoholic, but he doesn't have that 'nervous look' being in a bar. He simply must be into clean living. Mitchell has been anxiously looking at his phone. He's waiting for a girlfriend or wife to call. I know the look. They are all based out of Colorado, except for Jon, who we know has been living around here."

"Colorado?"

"I heard Teal'c predicting 'The warriors of the Rockies would be facing a formidable foe in the warriors of the North when they meet in the World Series.'" Kate laughed at Rick's movie trailer deep voice imitation.

"It looks like Vala and Daniel are wasted," Kate observed. Vala was draped over Daniel, practically sitting in his lap.

"Daniel, yes. He's a lightweight, nursing his second beer. Vala has had at least five shots, but trust me. She's _completely_ sober. She's just taking advantage of the situation."

"Shut the front door!" Vala now had her tongue in Daniel's ear.

"I know. PDA does not seem to be a concern for her." Castle continued with his gossip, "I did a web search on our Dr. Jackson. He hasn't published anything in years—probably because he's doing top secret work for the government. The last thing I could find was a paper from the mid-90s posted on that conspiracy site I showed you yesterday. He doesn't have the full section like Colonel Carter, but his article on the dating of the pyramids is really popular and has a lot of comments. It appears his paper could be interpreted to say the Egyptians did not build the pyramids."

Rick had pulled her in, and now she was curious too. "Then who built them?"

He paused for dramatic effect. "Aliens."

"I should have guessed. What about the boy colonel? I assume you carded him. How old is he?"

"I tried. He just gave me his freshly printed military ID, which has no birth date. He said something about it typically requiring twenty years to reach colonel and he hasn't been promoted in over fifteen years. I didn't press the issue because it's not like they are going to bust him or me for an age violation. There'd be another cover-up."

"How old do you think he is?"

"Over fifty? Close to sixty? He's the result of some _really_ good living, some kind of fountain of youth, or he really is some kind of clo—"

"Don't say it. I don't want to think about that. Where are the others?"

"Probably meetings with the President or something. Hey, there's Colonel Carter." Rick pointed to the hallway to the back office, where the blonde colonel had emerged, in full dress uniform. She walked behind the bar and ducked behind it. Rick bounced up to see what was going on, and Kate followed.

After a few seconds Carter stood back up. She was holding the silver device she found in the 'invisible shed' that morning. "Hi, guys. I didn't mean to interrupt your date." Kate opened her mouth to protest that it wasn't a date, but the colonel continued, "I just had to retrieve this portable generator. I left it hooked up here for the afternoon to pay you back for letting us shut you down for part of the day. Your meter will have wound back quite a bit by now. Don't be surprised if ConEd audits it next month. You'll pass the audit, and you probably won't have to pay a power bill for the next couple of years.

"By the way, Walter forgot to leave your winnings. With the split pot, the final payout was 5-to-4, so here's your $250. It's not much on a $200 bet, but almost everyone knows to bet on Teal'c when he goes all Jaffa warrior." She grinned and carried the generator over to the team in the corner.

"What's a Jaffa warrior?" Kate whispered.

"I have no idea," Castle whispered back.

"Hey, Sam! You made it!" Daniel was way too excited. Mitchell started to stand, but stopped when Carter flashed him an annoyed look.

"He's pretty drunk," Carter observed.

"At least he didn't die again today," Jon quipped. _Did he just say die… again? _"Are you joining us?"

"I can't stay. I had to pick up this, and—"

Mitchell laughed, "I love how you are being sneaky passive aggressive with the IOA."

"I know the IOA rejected my power planet conversion plan. They complained about losses of jobs if the conversion happens too quickly and worried about Middle East unrest when the demand for oil dries up. Russia was trying to protect their exports, too. While those were all valid points, they aren't even getting started! Hook up a thousand of these generators, and we could light and heat the world. A thousand more and power would be so cheap everyone would trade their gas-powered vehicles for electrics." Carter was clearly on a soapbox about some magical way to solve the energy crisis. But like Kate had been told earlier, she had no proof, and if she told anyone, she'd be labeled a conspiracy theory nut.

"Except for your Indian."

"Well, of course." _She has an Indian. That's a nice motorcycle. _"But it's not like I couldn't covert it."

Carter sighed and continued, "Anyway, Bill messed up something with my new engines, so the upgrade was pushed back, which is just as well since I spent most of the afternoon in the White House. The President is happy with how today turned out."

_She actually was meeting with the President. Why am I not surprised?_

"The animal attack has transformed into a tragic public-interest story. A lot of people are spinning crazy theories about how a crazed bear got onto the island, but nothing is spinning our way. The biggest problem has been the mayor. He's not happy with us commandeering the NYPD and shutting down part of Manhattan. He's complaining about Posse Comitatus. The President told him to be quiet and has stopped taking his calls."

"I'm friends with the mayor. I could give Bob a call," Castle offered.

"That's ok. The General was acting under IOA Authority, not Presidential Authority, so the mayor is barking up the wrong tree. Of course the mayor doesn't know about the IOA, and it's going to stay that way." Carter leveled a look at Castle. "The President and mayor go back a bit. It's really just political posturing."

"What about the IOA?" Teal'c asked.

"There're not happy, but that's nothing new. The General is holding them at bay right now. We might still have a cargo ship out there, but it's good to know we found their assembly station. We also recovered enough refined naquadah for ten more bombs or about twenty of these generators.

"Detective Beckett," Carter continued, "you should know we have contacted the victims' families and passed along our condolences. The small consolation is the IOA has agreed to use fifty percent of the naquadah value to compensate the families. Considering mining and refinement costs, it works out to about ten million per family."

Beckett was shocked. Two families, ten million per, fifty percent… that was forty million. If that could power twenty generators, the fuel in the device in Carter's hands was worth two million dollars. And it was just sitting in the bar all afternoon.

Carter was still talking, "Jon, you have orders to report to Nellis at 0800. You have requalify on the '302."

"Come on! I taught the class once."

"That was what—seven years ago? The avionics have been updated, but I'm sure you'll be fine as long as you make that your last one." She pointed at his beer.

Jon rolled his eyes, clearly thinking the beer was no big deal. "What will I be doing?"

"_Assuming_ you pass your quals, you're covering as squadron lead for a few months while the current commander is out on maternity leave. We have to wait for that other opening that we talked about."

"Sounds good. I do miss it. I should probably head home and pack. I assume someone can take care of my lease."

"No problem. By the way, Captain Hailey's stationed at Area 51 now. You know she's always had a crush on you," Carter teased.

"Fercryinoutloud! She's what? Twelve."

"She's almost thirty," Carter countered.

"And we know you like blonde Air Force scientists," Daniel slurred.

"I like _one _brilliant, blonde Air Force officer, and she's taken. You know most twelve year olds are taller than Hailey is, and she's still young enough to be… Jack's daughter."

Everyone at the table laughed except Teal'c, who just raised his eyebrow.

"I'm heading back to D.C.," Sam said. "Radio Major Marks when you need transport. Later guys."

"Tell Jack I said hi!" Daniel said.

Vala covered his mouth with her hand. "Don't be silly, Daniel. Sam and her husband aren't going to be talking about you. They are going to be having some alone time. They have more important things to be doing. Sam's going to be getting some."

Carter gave Vala a look of annoyance that clearly said, '_Of course that's what we'll be doing, but you didn't need to say it out loud.' _Vala was back to nibbling Daniel's ear so she didn't notice.

Kate and Rick walked with Carter back to the door she had entered. "Thanks again for your help. We'll try to stay out of your way tomorrow."

"Ok, but if a meteor is heading towards Earth tomorrow, please give us warning," Castle joked.

"Don't worry. We took care of that problem, years ago." Beckett couldn't tell if she was kidding. "I'll let you get back to your date. Enjoy your evening." Carter winked at them as she pushed through the door.

Kate exhaled deeply, and Rick looked at her, concerned about the very last thing the colonel had said. But neither of them talked about the 'date' inference. Instead she quietly took his hand and walked him back to their booth.

For the next couple of hours they talked about various things. About Alexis. About Ryan and Jenny's wedding planning. About everything except aliens, invisible buildings, clones, extradimensional parasites, and mutant monsters. Sometime later, the group of space heroes disappeared, but Kate no longer cared. She fully intended to forget much of the last two days. But as she looked at their hands, still linked on the table, she knew she was not going to forget this moment with Rick anytime soon. She was no longer in the Twilight Zone. She didn't know what 'zone' she and Rick were in. She just knew she was happy being there, with him.

* * *

><p>AN: That's all for this story. It's been fun, yet again. I'm sorry this Castle/Stargate story fell into the crossover trap of too many characters. I just couldn't help myself. Hopefully it still was fun. Thank you all for your reviews and for just stopping by.

There is now another Castle/Chuck crossover sequel that takes place a few months later, titled _Why Does This Keep Happening?_

Watching _Stargate SG-1, 6.8, The Other Guys_, after I finished this story, I realized I missed out on a great opportunity. I should have had a battle of the grammar police, Jack O'Neill and Richard Castle. Oh well.

I seriously thought about adding in miniSam into this story, but couldn't bring myself to do it. If you like that idea, feel free to imagine that she has just finished her "second" PhD at Columbia, which is why Jack was in New York. Jonathan and Dr. Carter are expecting their first in a few months. Dr. Carter had been planning on getting a part-time job either at Area 51 or the SGC labs when Jack got bored and wanted to rejoin the Air Force.

Castle fans will notice I didn't mention the "J" word. Reader's choice… Either they are in a Stargate alternate reality in which he-who-shall-not-be-named and Kate never met, or (my preference) Kate was so distracted by the unusual cases (and was having so much fun with Castle) that she didn't even think of you-know-who for two whole days.

Thinking of alternate realities made me wonder what a Stargate-based reality without the discovery of an Earth stargate would be like (e.g. the Castle TV show universe). I would imagine Anubis would defeat all of the other system lords, and the replicators would defeat the Asgard and as well as Anubis's armies, leaving him floating in space. When the replicators gated to the Antarctic gate, they would freeze, thinking Earth is now an ice planet. The Ori and Wraith would be safely tucked in their own galaxies, and Kinsey would resign from office in disgrace because of a scandal. Vala would be a smuggler, and Teal'c would join the Sodan. Daniel would still be like pre-stargate Daniel. Mitchell would be an F-16 pilot. Sam would be a two time Shuttle astronaut and would retire from NASA this year when the shuttles were decommissioned. She would settle down as a physics professor at the US Air Force Academy, where she would meet retired Colonel Jack O'Neill at a special event. You could imagine what would happen next…


End file.
